ABSTRACT
Spiral campylobacter-like organisms were rst observed microscopically from the stool of children by Escherich in 1886. Between 1909 and 1944, there were a growing number of reports of similar vibriolike organisms isolated from bovine and ovine sources, but they were not isolated from humans until 1938, in association with a milk-borne outbreak of gastroenteritis where blood cultures were positive for organisms resembling Vibrio jejuni [1]. The microaerobic vibrios were assigned to the new genus Campylobacter in 1963 [2], and included just two species: Campylobacter fetus and Campylobacter bubulus (now Campylobacter sputorum). Campylobacters were rst successfully isolated from stool in the late 1960s using a ltration technique [1]. Later, the development of selective media brought the
Taxonomic History of Campylobacters ......................................................................................... 691 General Characteristics .................................................................................................................. 693 Epidemiology .................................................................................................................................694 Isolation and Identication of Campylobacter spp. .......................................................................694
