It’s a major cause of diarrhea. You can acquire the infection from pets such as dogs and cattle, or from contaminated foods such as unpasteurized milk, poultry, and meat.

The organism is comma-shaped or “S”-shaped and has distinctive culture characteristics:

• It is microaerophilic.
• It grows well at a specific temperature of 42°C.

It secretes an enterotoxin with effects similar to cholera toxin, which contributes to its pathogenicity.

Clinically, it causes an invasive diarrhea with:

• Fever
• Abdominal cramps
• Loose, bloody stools

In a small number of cases, infection may be followed by Guillain-Barre syndrome or Reiter’s syndrome.

On culture, it appears as Gram-negative, motile, oxidase-positive bacilli.