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The objective of this study was to examine the recent trends in the epidemiology of campylobacteriosis in Israel. A Sentinel Laboratory-Based Surveillance Network for Bacterial Enteric Diseases was established in Israel by the Israel Center for Disease Control (ICDC). This network generated data on subjects from whom Campylobacter spp. was isolated in community and hospital laboratories. Further characterization of the isolates was done at the Campylobacter National Reference Laboratory. Data from these two sources were integrated and analyzed at the ICDC. Between 1999 and 2012, 40,978 Campylobacter stool isolates were reported to the ICDC by the sentinel laboratories. The incidence rate of campylobacteriosis increased from 65.7 per 100,000 in 1999 to 101.7 per 100,000 in 2012. This increase resulted from a significant rise in the incidence of campylobacteriosis in the Jewish population which, since 2009, surpassed the consistent higher incidence of the disease in Israeli Arabs. The peak morbidity in Israel consistently occurred in late spring, with a risk excess in males compared with females, in younger age groups and earlier in the life span among Arabs than among Jews and others. These results suggest that further analytical studies should be carried out to identify risk factors responsible for the increased incidence of campylobacteriosis and better direct prevention and control of the disease in Israel.

In the summer of 1988, a large epidemic of acute pharyngitis occurred in an Israeli military base. The clinical features were those of acute pharyngitis. The epidemic curve was characteristic of a common-source outbreak, possibly food-borne. Throat swabs from a sample of cases were positive for group A streptococci. Nine isolates from the epidemic were further evaluated at the local reference laboratory and serotyping showed that all were of the same strain with a distinct M protein that is a hitherto undescribed variant of M-29. We discuss the significance of unusual strains of beta-hemolytic Streptococcus appearing in food-borne outbreaks.

An outbreak of gastroenteritis due to Campylobacter jejuni occurred during a 2-day period in June 1982 in a military base in Israel. Of 22 patients with acute gastroenteritis examined at the unit's medical clinic, 17 were available for complete clinical evaluation. Stool cultures were taken from them as well as from 23 asymptomatic soldiers including food handlers. In 6 of the 17 patients with enteritis (35%) Campylobacter jejuni serotype 11 was isolated, while the stool cultures of all the asymptomatic soldiers were negative. A temporary food handler was the most probable source of the infection. He had suffered from symptoms of acute gastroenteritis prior to the outbreak but had not reported them, and was found to harbor the same Campylobacter serotype as the other patients.