"Campylobacter" Transmission in a Peruvian Shantytown: A Longitudinal Study Using Strain Typing of Campylobacter Isolates from Chickens and Humans in Household Clusters

Campylobacter jejuni is a major cause of pediatric diarrhea in developing countriesfree-ranging chickens are presumed to be a common source. Campylobacter strains from monthly surveillance and diarrhea cases were compared by means of restriction-fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), rapid amplified polymorphic DNA, and Lior serotyping. RFLP analysis of 156 human and 682 avian strains demonstrated identical strains in chickens and humans in 29 (70.7%) of 41 families, and 35%-39% of human isolates from diarrhea and nondiarrhea cases were identical to a household chicken isolate. Isolation of the same RFLP type from a household chicken and a human within 1 month was highly protective against diarrhea (odds ratio, 0.07; P < .005). Campylobacter strains from symptomatic humans were unlikely to be identical to strains recently carried by household chickens, limiting the potential benefits from household-based control measures.