United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture 

Veterinary Services 

Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health June 2009 

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Campylobacter on U.S. Beef 

Cow-calf Operations, 2007–08 

Campylobacter is one of the most common causes of 

diarrheal illness in humans in the United States. In 

humans, Campylobacter infection can cause fever, 

abdominal cramping, and diarrhea. Severe infections 

can result in death. In some cases, foods of animal 

origin have been implicated as the source of human 

illness caused by Campylobacter. Although human 

foodborne illness caused by Campylobacter has 

primarily been attributed to poultry, there is evidence that 

other sources such as red meat may also be sources of 

human exposure.1

 

Antimicrobials are not necessary for the treatment of 

most Campylobacter infections; however, antimicrobial 

resistance in Campylobacter is a concern because it can 

complicate treatment options in severe infections. Most 

human illness from campylobacteriosis is caused by 

Campylobacter jejuni, but C. coli and other species can 

cause illness as well. This information sheet focuses on 

C. jejuni and C. coli because they are most commonly 

associated with human disease. 

Beef 2007–08 study 

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National 

Animal Health Monitoring System conducted the Beef 

2007–08 study, which focused on beef cow-calf health 

and management practices in 24 States from three 

regions of the United States.*

 These States represented 

79.6 percent of U.S. operations with beef cows and 87.8 

percent of U.S. beef cows. 

One objective of the Beef 2007–08 study was to 

describe the occurrence of Campylobacter and 

associated antimicrobial resistance on beef cow-calf 

operations. 

Testing for Campylobacter was performed on 173 of 

the beef cow-calf operations participating in the study. 

Up to 20 fresh fecal samples from individual fecal pats 

on the ground were taken from each operation and 

tested for presence of Campylobacter. Care was taken 

to ensure that samples originated from adult beef cows. 

 

*States/Regions 

West: California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, 

Oregon, Wyoming 

Central: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, 

South Dakota 

Southeast: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, 

Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia 

Of the 2,917 samples collected, 259 (8.9 percent) 

were positive for Campylobacter, and at least one 

positive sample was found on 77 of the 173 operations 

(44.5 percent). Of the 259 Campylobacter isolates, 

almost 95 percent were C. jejuni and about 4 percent 

were C. coli. C. jejuni was found on almost all of the 77 

operations positive for Campylobacter (table 1). 

Table 1. Number and Percentage of Samples Tested 

for Campylobacter, (and Number and Percentage of 

Operations Sampled), by Test Results 

Samples Operations 

Results No. Pct. No. Pct. 

Negative 2,658 91.1 96 55.5 

Positive 

C. jejuni 244 8.4 75 43.4 

C. coli 10 0.3 5 2.9 

Unknown 

or not 

typed 

5 0.2 4 2.3 

Total 2,917 100.0 173* NA 

*Seven operations had more than one species of Campylobacter

isolated (counting “not typed” as a species). 

Campylobacter was significantly more likely to be 

found on operations with 50 or more beef cows than on 

operations with fewer than 50 beef cows (table 2). 

Table 2. Number of Operations Tested for 

Campylobacter (and Number and Percentage of 

Operations with at Least One Sample Positive for 

Campylobacter), by Herd Size 

Herd size 

(Number of 

Beef Cows)

Number 

Tested 

Number 

Positive 

Percent 

Positive 

1-49 49 8 16.3 

50-99 26 10 38.5 

100-199 42 23 54.8 

200 or more 56 36 64.3 

Total 173 77 44.5 
United States Department of Agriculture • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service • Safeguarding American Agriculture 

The largest number of sampled operations were in 

the Southeast region, which were significantly less likely 

to be Campylobacter-positive (table 3). 

Table 3. Number of Operations Tested for 

Campylobacter (and Number and Percentage of 

Operations with at Least One Sample Positive for 

Campylobacter), by Region 

Region Number 

Tested 

Number 

Positive 

Percent 

Positive 

West 39 19 48.7 

Central 54 32 59.3 

Southeast 80 26 32.5 

Total 173 77 44.5 

Campylobacter antimicrobial susceptibility

Over one-half of the C. jejuni isolates (56.2 percent) 

were susceptible to all nine antimicrobials tested. Of the 

antimicrobials in table 4, ciprofloxacin and erythromycin 

are especially important because they are often used to 

treat humans infected with Campylobacter.

2

 Less than 7 

percent of C. jejuni isolates were resistant to 

ciprofloxacin, and less than 1 percent were resistant to 

erythromycin. The highest percentage of isolates 

(38.9 percent) were resistant to tetracycline. Of the 10 

C. coli isolates tested for antimicrobial susceptibility, 6 

were resistant to tetracycline, 2 were resistant to 

ciprofloxacin, and 2 were resistant to nalidixic acid. 

Table 4. Percentage of Resistant C. jejuni Isolates, 

by Antimicrobial:* 

C. jejuni (n=244) 

Antimicrobial Percent 

Azithromycin 0.4 

Ciprofloxacin 6.6 

Clindamycin 0.8 

Erythromycin 0.4 

Florfenicol 0.0 

Gentamicin 0.0 

Nalidixic Acid 6.1 

Telithromycin 0.0 

Tetracycline 38.9 

Resistant to two or 

more antimicrobials 8.2 

Susceptible to all 

nine antimicrobials 56.2 

*Intermediate isolates were classified as susceptible.

. 

Summary 

Campylobacter was found on less than one-half of 

the beef cow-calf operations tested and in less than 

10 percent of the collected samples. About 95 percent of 

the Campylobacter isolates were C. jejuni. 

Campylobacter was less likely to be isolated from 

smaller herds and herds in the Southeast region. 

Relatively few Campylobacter isolates were resistant to 

antimicrobials, and over one-half of the C. jejuni isolates 

were susceptible to all of the antimicrobials against 

which they were tested. The highest percentage of 

resistance was observed for tetracycline. Few isolates 

were resistant to ciprofloxacin or erythromycin. 

Resistance to two or more antimicrobials occurred in 

less than 9 percent of isolates. 

References 

1. Bae, W, Kaya, KN, Hancock, DD, Call, DR, Park, YH, 

Besser, TE. 2005. Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of 

thermophilic Campylobacter spp. from cattle farms in 

Washington state. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 71:1;169-174. 

2. Gupta, A, Nelson, JM, Barrett, TJ, et al. Antimicrobial 

resistance among Campylobacter Strains, United States, 1997-

2001. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 10:6; 1102-1109. 

APHIS acknowledges the contributions of the USDA–ARS Bacterial 

Epidemiology and Antimicrobial Resistance Research Unit for their 

participation in the Beef 2007–08 study. 

____________________ 

For more information, contact: 

USDA–APHIS–VS–CEAH 

NRRC Building B, M.S. 2E7 

2150 Centre Avenue 

Fort Collins, CO 80526-8117 

970.494.7000 

E-mail: NAHMS@aphis.usda.gov 

http://nahms.aphis.usda.gov 

#N555.0609 

____________________________________ 

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