Thermophilic campylobacters are the leading cause of food borne gastroenteritis worldwide. Rapid identification of thermophilic campylobacters in laboratory would be highly useful in adopting appropriate preventive and therapeutic measures. In the present study, we have evaluated the use of a commercial latex agglutination kit (Hi Media) for its sensitivity in detection of thermophilic campylobacters. A total of 43 previously confirmed (PCR based) thermophilic campylobacters isolates (29 Campylobacter coli and 14 C. jejuni), obtained from poultry fecal, cattle dung and human stool samples were used. The test was performed according to manufacturer's recommendations. All 43 thermophilic campylobacter isolates produced characteristic agglutination of latex particles giving 100% sensitivity of the test kit. Using the latex agglutination kit considerably reduced time taken to confirm the isolates from several hours to just few minutes.
