Campylobacteriosis rates more than halved | Rural

Cases of the food borne bacteria campylobacteriosis have dropped by more than 50 percent since New Zealand authorities moved to reduce bacterial contamination in fresh chicken meat, scientists say.

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority and the poultry introduced the regulatory and voluntary control measures in 2007 since when notified and hospitalised cases of campylobacteriosis, a campylobacter infection, had fallen by half.

``This decline in campylobacter infection is one of the largest drops in disease incidence ever recorded for a national epidemic of this type,'' University of Otago associate professor Michael Baker said.

New Zealand campylobacteriosis rates began to rise in the mid 1980s and peaked in 2006, with 15,873 notified cases -- the highest rate worldwide.

``Following the introduction of these control measures, there were 9000 fewer reported cases in 2008 than in 2006 and 500 fewer hospitalisations,'' lead researcher Ann Sears said.

``We also estimate there are now 70,000 fewer unreported cases in the community.''

Despite the control programme's success, New Zealand still has among the highest reported rates of campylobacteriosis in the developed world at 168 cases per 100,000 people, compared 108 per 100,000 in Australia and 13 per 100,000 in the United States.

``This is by far the largest food borne epidemic in New Zealand's history. It was created by producing and consuming increasing amounts of contaminated chicken meat,'' Prof Baker said.

``We need to learn from this experience. Firstly, this success shows the importance of high quality disease surveillance, effective research, and strong regulatory agencies. We need to keep strengthening these areas.''

Prof Baker said additional prevention and control measures could ``save New Zealand a fortune''.

``We can do better. New Zealand initially delayed tackling this epidemic for several years, despite evidence highlighting the role of fresh chicken meat. As a food-producing country we must be leaders in food safety to maintain the trust of countries we export to as well as domestic consumers.''

Symptoms of campylobacteriosis include diarrhoea, stomach cramps, nausea, vomiting, tiredness and fever.