Scientific Opinion onCampylobacterin broiler meat production: control options and performance objectives and/or targets at different stages of the food chain

Abstract

It is estimated that there are approximately nine million cases of human campylobacteriosis per year in the EU27. The disease burden of campylobacteriosis and its sequelae is 0.35 million disabilityadjusted life years (DALYs) per year and total annual costs are 2.4 billion €. Broiler meat may account for 20% to 30% of these, while 50% to 80% may be attributed to the chicken reservoir as a whole (broilers as well as laying hens). The public health benefits of controlling Campylobacter in primary broiler production are expected to be greater than control later in the chain as the bacteria may also spread from farms to humans by other pathways than broiler meat. Strict implementation of biosecurity in primary production and GMP/HACCP during slaughter may reduce colonization of broilers with Campylobacter, and contamination of carcasses. The effects cannot be quantified because they depend on many interrelated local factors. In addition, the use of fly screens, restriction of slaughter age, or discontinued thinning may further reduce consumer risks but have not yet been tested widely. After slaughter, a 100% risk reduction can be reached by irradiation or cooking of broiler meat on an industrial scale. More than 90% risk reduction can be obtained by freezing carcasses for 2-3 weeks. A 50-90% risk reduction can be achieved by freezing for 2-3 days, hot water or chemical carcass decontamination. Achieving a target of 25% or 5% BFP in all other MS is estimated to result in 50% and 90% reduction of public health risk, respectively. A public health risk reduction > 50% or > 90% could be achieved if all batches would comply with microbiological criteria with a critical limit of 1000 or 500 CFU/gram of neck and breast skin, respectively, while 15% and 45% of all tested batches would not comply with these criteria.

Improved Detection of Bacterial Pathogens in Patients Presenting with Gastroenteritis by Use of the EntericBio Real-Time Gastro Panel I Assay

“…As a result of this study, we discontinued culturing of Campylobacter-positive samples and report them solely on the basis of real-time detection, which has decreased the time to reporting of these positive results to a maximum of 24 h. The overall number of Campylobacter-positive samples remains high (more than 8% of all samples tested), and this reflects the situation observed in Ireland (17) and the European Union, where Campylobacter infections are estimated to cause 9.2 million infections a year with a significant financial cost (€2.4 billion per annum) (18). Interestingly, in the current study, coinfections with Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli and STEC were observed in four samples.…”

Global Epidemiology of Campylobacter Infection

“…Current estimates suggest that transmission of 50 to 80% of all human cases of campylobacteriosis is related to chickens (401). The annual worldwide costs associated with Campylobacter infection are extremely high.…”

Effect of Bacteriophage Application on Campylobacter jejuni Loads in Commercial Broiler Flocks

“…Therefore, the Panel on Biological Hazards of the European Food Safety Authority regards the reduction at farm level to be most effective for public health benefits (8). These measures could reduce the number of cases of human campylobacteriosis considerably (7).…”

“…In contrast to other bacterial foodborne zoonoses like salmonellosis, there was an increase of 8.5% in reported cases in Germany in 2011 and of 7% from 2008 to 2010 in the EU (2,6), posing a serious threat to public health. Risk assessments have been carried out, and control options at different levels of the food chain are under discussion (7).…”

“…Microbiological criteria and performance objectives in primary production for Campylobacter are currently under discussion in Europe (7). Therefore, additional measures to reduce the Campylobacter load are necessary to meet these criteria, which can be established at different stages in the food chain (9).…”