Minnesota reports Campylobacter outbreak among MSM
The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) says they have received 13 cases of Campylobacter jejuni infection since August 25, 2023.
Reported illness onset dates ranged from August 28, 2023 to January 10, 2024.
The cases were all in males and all but two were residents of Hennepin or Ramsey Counties.
Seven of the nine interviewed cases reported sexual contact with a man within the week before illness onset. Four cases were hospitalized.
Five of the 13 cases had co-detections for other enteric pathogens, including four who were co-infected with enteroaggregative E. coli, two with Shigella, and one with Cryptosporidium.
No common restaurant or social contact exposures were reported; sexual contact is the likely route of transmission.
Campylobacter transmission has been previously documented in the MSM community, though in the past as coinfections with Shigella flexneri. Symptoms of Campylobacter infection include watery or bloody diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever. Symptoms may be more severe among patients with immunodeficiency including persons living with HIV.
Most infections with C. jejuni are self-limited and do not require antimicrobials to clear the infection; however, appropriate antimicrobial treatment early in the course of illness can decrease the duration of illness.