New Zealand Studies Its Most Prevalent Notifiable Disease--Campylobacter
New Zealand's South Canterbury is on many dream vacation lists. The area between the Conway and Waitaki rivers and what New Zealand calls its Southern Alps to the west, the area's many attractions are anything if not inviting.
The tourist brochures for Christchurch and other places in South Canterbury, however, do not mention the fact that this big area of New Zealand has more than its share of Campylobacter. The Timaru Herald reports:
Campylobacter continues to be the most prevalent notifiable disease in South Canterbury and there is a study under way to find out why.
Statistics from South Canterbury District Health Board show in March there were seven cases of campylobacter in Timaru, three in the Mackenzie district and two in Waimate.
There have been no known outbreaks or obvious connection between the cases, medical officer of health Daniel Williams said.
New Zealand sees 10,000 cases of Campylobacter each year. Three years ago, 970 hospital admissions were attributed to the disease. Williams said the long incubation period often makes it difficult to link to the cause.
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