A common bacterium found in improperly cooked chicken can cause Guillain-Barre Syndrome — the leading cause of acute neuromuscular paralysis in humans, researchers have found for the first time.
The research not only demonstrates how this food-borne bacterium known as Campylobacter jejuni triggers Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), but offers new information for a cure. If chicken is not cooked to the proper minimum internal temperature, bacteria can still exist.
“What our work has told us is that it takes a certain genetic makeup combined with a certain Campylobacter strain to cause this disease,” said linda Mansfield from Michigan State University (MSU) College of Veterinary Medicine in the US.
“The concerning thing is that many of these strains are resistant to antibiotics and our work shows that treatment with some antibiotics could actually make the disease worse,” said Mansfield.
GBS is the world’s leading cause of acute neuromuscular paralysis in humans and despite much speculation, the exact mechanisms of how this autoimmune disease develops have been widely unknown, researchers said.
“We have successfully produced three preclinical models of GBS that represent two different forms of the syndrome seen in humans,” Mansfield said.
“Our models now provide a unique opportunity to understand how your personal genetic type may make you more susceptible to certain forms of GBS,” she said.
Another area of concern more recently among scientists is related to an increase of the disease due to the Zika virus.