Campylobacter is well recognized as the leading cause of bacterial foodborne diarrheal disease worldwide. Symptoms can range from mild to serious infections of the children and the elderly and permanent neurological symptoms. The organism is a cytochrome oxidase positive, microaerophilic, curved Gram-negative rod exhibiting corkscrew motility and is carried in the intestine of many wild and domestic animals, particularly avian species including poultry. Intestinal colonization results in healthy animals as carriers. In contrast with the most recent published reviews that cover specific aspects of Campylobacter/campylobacteriosis, this broad review aims at elucidating and discussing the (i) genus Campylobacter, growth and survival characteristics; (ii) detection, isolation and confirmation of Campylobacter; (iii) campylobacteriosis and presence of virulence factors; and (iv) colonization of poultry and control strategies.

The administration of probiotics that colonize the vaginal tract can be important in maintaining a normal urogenital health and also to prevent or treat infections.

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Staphylococcus aureus represents a public health challenge worldwide. The aim of this study was the characterization of different food isolates of S. aureus on the basis of their production of enterotoxins, hemolysins and resistance to antibiotics. A total of 148 coagulase-positive staphylococcal strains isolated from different food origins were identified to the species level. By multiplex PCR, 69% of the isolates were shown to be enterotoxigenic (SEs); the most common were sea seg, sea seg sei and seg sei. According to CLSI [CLSI, Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, 2007. Performance Standards for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing; Fifteenth Informational Supplement. CLSI document M100-S15. Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute, Wayne, PA], 38% of the isolates were resistant to oxacillin (>or= 6 microg/mL; MRSA positives) but only 0.68% showed the presence of mecA gene. 70 and 73% of the S. aureus strains were resistant to beta-lactams, ampicillin and penicillin, respectively. The virulence pattern was demonstrated to be origin and strain dependent. These findings emphasise the need to prevent the presence of S. aureus strains and SEs production in foods.

The neutrophil and macrophage responses that accompany inflammation were studied in the peritoneal cavity of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss using light and electron microscopic cytochemistry. Neutrophils of inflamnlatory pentoneal exudates were alpha-naphthyl butyrate esterasenegative, peroxldase-positive and rich in cytoplasmic glycogen granules. Macrophages were poor in glycogen, esterase-positive and usually peroxidase-negative. Some peroxidase-posibve macrophages were due to the transfer to macrophages of neutrophilic peroxidase. The ultrastructural double labehng for glycogen/peroxidase or esterase/peroxidase was most useful for precisely characterising neutrophils and macrophages in the inflamed peritoneal cavities and for correctly labelling peroxidasepositive macrophages. Intraperitoneal injection of casein, Incomplete Freund's Adjuvant (IFA) and live or formol-killed Yersinia ruckeri resulted in a rapid influx of neutrophils, peaking at 24 to 48 h postinjection and reaching values, in the case of live bacteria, 5OOx those in the resting, unstimulated peritoneal cavity. Peritonea1 macrophages also increased, but the response was slower (peak at 5 d ) and with more modest increases in number ( 7 . 5~) Neutrophil and mononuclear cells returned to normal values after 15 d in the case of casein and bacteria, but continued above base values 30 d after the injection of IFA. Conversely, after the injection of phosphate buffered s a h e , India ink or with shaminjections, very moderate neutrophil and macrophage responses subsided in a few hours. Phagocytosis of bacteria was studied by light microscopy of preparations stained for peroxidase by a new method which allows for the simultaneous observation of intracellular bacteria and peroxidase staining. When Y. ruckeri was injected into resting peritoneal cavities, bacteria were ingested by the resident macrophages. When the bacteria were injected into cavities with high numbers of neutrophils (due to the previous injection of casein), more neutrophils than macrophages contained bacteria. Results show that the macrophages are the resident phagocytes of the peritoneal cavity of trout, while neutrophils are present in that body cavity in significant numbers only in situations of inflammation and only as long as the inflammation persists.