Overview of Waterborne Pathogens - Waterborne Pathogens: Detection Methods and Applications - page 19

Figure 2.5 Illustration of a variety of bacteria morphologies. Source: From: http://com-
mons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bacterial_morphology_diagram.svg . (For color version of
this igure, the reader is referred to the online version of this topic.)
The infectious dose for Campylobacter is low for a bacterium at around
1000 cells. The resulting illness is generally self-limiting, typically lasting
3-7days with common symptoms of abdominal pain, diarrhea, vomiting,
chills and fever. The occurrence of this pathogen in water is associated with
high amounts of rainfall, high water temperature and the presence of water-
fowl. The animal reservoirs of this pathogen are thought to be poultry, wild
birds and cattle. Outbreaks have resulted from inadequate or unchlorinated
supplies or when reservoirs are fecally contaminated by birds.
There are millions of cases annually of what is generally mild, self-
limiting diarrhea, although this still results in significant losses in productiv-
ity and days of work, particularly in developing countries. 18 In the United
States it is estimated that there are around 250,000 cases annually and several
deaths 19 from both contaminated food and water sources.