Identification of Thermotolerant Campylobacters by Latex Agglutination Test and Ultrastructure Studies

Thermotolerant campylobacters are the leading cause of food-borne bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. Rapid identification of thermophilic campylobacters in the laboratory would be highly helpful in adopting appropriate preventive and therapeutic measures. In the present study, a latex agglutination test (LAT) has been employed for identification of thermotolerant campylobacters isolated from fecal/stool samples of various sources, namely poultry, cattle and humans. A total of 43 thermotolerant campylobacters isolates consisting of 29 Campylobacter coli and 14 C. jejuni were subjected to a latex agglutination test. All the 43 isolates produced characteristic agglutination confirming the Campylobacter genus of the isolates, thereby considerably reducing the amount of time spent from several hours to just few minutes for identification purposes. The ultrastructure of one of the Campylobacter isolate was studied by transmission electron microscopy using negative staining technique, which revealed the characteristic structures of the organism. In conclusion, LAT test is suggested to be used as a rapid assay for identifying the presence of campylobacters in clinical samples.