# Genomic Epidemiology of Campylobacter to Improve Disease Control in Low and Middle Income Countries

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA · 2021 · $738,433

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
Campylobacter is among the principal causes of bacterial enteritis worldwide and the progressive development
of antimicrobial resistance among global isolates, particularly in low and middle income countries, has led the
CDC to list drug-resistant Campylobacter at the top of its list of serious threats in 2019. In the past decade in
Europe major investments in genomic epidemiology have informed successful interventions to decrease rates
of human infection and sequelae such as Guillan-Barre syndrome. Despite clear evidence that Campylobacter
is a principal cause of enteritis in the developing world, advanced approaches in source attribution have not
been employed to identify the principal sources of infection causing disease in humans, or to identify the
sources of human infections resistant to both fluoroquinolones and azithromycin (MDR Campylobacter),
despite their documented high incidence. The limited genomic study of Campylobacter done in low and middle
income countries demonstrates important differences in the genomes of isolates from both humans and
zoonotic sources, indicating that transmission dynamics differ in these settings compared to that seen in high
income countries. The current deficit in accurate quantitative source attribution to zoonotic source populations
where most infections occur is a critical knowledge gap in the global control of Campylobacter infections. The
objective of this project is to inform targeted disease control measures to reduce the impact of
campylobacteriosis and human MDR Campylobacter in low and middle income countries. Our central
hypothesis is that industrially produced meat products are the principal source of campyobacteriosis and MDR
Campylobacter in humans in this population. In order to test our central hypothesis we will 1) identify host
segregating features of Campylobacter from zoonotic sources in Peru; 2) characterize genomes of
Campylobacter strains that cause disease in humans, evaluate the risk of household peron-to-person
transmission and identify microbial genomic features associated with persistent asymptomatic human carriage
and 3) estimate the burden of campylobacteriosis and human MDR infections attributable to domestic and
industrially derived zoonotic sources. The proposed project will unite a highly complementary group of
accomplished researchers with expertise in epidemiology, Campylobacter genomics, bioinformatics and
microbial ecology to inform strategic and targeted disease control interventions for Campylobacter control in an
area with one of the highest documented rates of human MDR Campylobacter infection. The project is
innovative in its approach to link characterized human cases and zoonotic reservoirs in a high burden LMIC
setting to local, regional, and global reference genomes to create robust evidence to drive policy and practice
to improve the control of campylobacteriosis and the diminish the geographic expansion of MDR
Campylobacter.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10184256
- **Project number:** 1R01AI158576-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA
- **Principal Investigator:** Margaret N Kosek
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $738,433
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-03-15 → 2026-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10184256

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10184256, Genomic Epidemiology of Campylobacter to Improve Disease Control in Low and Middle Income Countries (1R01AI158576-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10184256. Licensed CC0.

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