Campylobacter coli Outbreak in Men Who Have Sex with Men, Quebec, Canada, 2010–2011

Christiane Gaudreau

, Melissa Helferty, Jean-Loup Sylvestre, Robert Allard, Pierre A. Pilon, Michel Poisson, and Sadjia Bekal

Author affiliations: Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal–Hôpital Saint-Luc, Montreal, Quebec, Canada (C. Gaudreau); Université de Montréal, Montreal (C. Caudreau, M. Poisson, P.A. Pilon); Agence de la Santé et des Services Sociaux–Santé Publique de Montréal, Montreal (M. Helferty, J.-L. Sylvestre, R. Allard, P.A. Pilon); McGill University, Montreal (R. Allard); Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal–Hôtel-Dieu, Montreal (M. Poisson); Laboratoire de Santé Publique du Québec/Institut National de Santé Publique du Québec, Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada (S. Bekal); Public Health Agency of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (M. Helferty)

Abstract

During September 2010–November 2011, a cluster of erythromycin-susceptible, tetracycline- and ciprofloxacin-resistant Campylobacter coli pulsovar 1 infections was documented, involving 10 case-patients, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The findings suggested sexual transmission of an enteric infection among men who have sex with men.

Campylobacter coli is the second most common species that causes human Campylobacter infections (1–3). Few studies have characterized the differences between the epidemiology and the disease of C. coli infections in comparison to C. jejuni subsp. jejuni infections (1–3). However, many studies have reported a higher macrolide resistance in C. coli than in C. jejuni (1–3). Few C. coli outbreaks have been reported to date (4,5).