Fourth Workshop on Campylobacter Isolation
and Identification from Foods

TENTATIVE DATES: May 2010 Microbiology Laboratory Department of Biological Sciences Alabama State University, Montgomery, Alabama

Campylobacteriosis is the most common foodborne disease in Canada and Europe, and is second to Salmonella in the United States. Although Campylobacter spp. have been recognized for more than 30 years, relatively few food microbiology laboratories test for Campylobacter spp. on a routine basis.

Who Will Benefit from this Workshop?

Microbiologists working in the food industry, universities or research institutions will benefit from this workshop. The classes are organized to provide hands-on experience on the most successful techniques for the isolation and identification of Campylobacter spp. from foods. Participants will also learn the basics of molecular techniques used for rapid identification and characterization of Campylobacter strains for epidemiological purposes. At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to set-up a food microbiology laboratory for the isolation and identification of Campylobacter spp. from foods.

This workshop will cover:

• Minimum requirements to isolate Campylobacter spp.
• Sample collection and preparation
• Current enrichments and agar plates for Campylobacter isolation
• Best combinations for enrichment and agar plates
• Filtration systems for the isolation of contaminated strains
• Identification of isolates using:
• Phase contrast microscopy
• Latex agglutination tests
• ELISA testing
• DNA-based testing
• Methodology suggested by FDA and USDA FSIS for the isolation of Campylobacter from foods
• Introduction to fingerprinting techniques (pulsed-field gel electrophoresis and multi locus sequence typing) that are typically used in epidemiological studies.

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