Campylobacter infection

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Sharon Durham, an Agricultural Research Service Informational Service writer with the USDA, wrote about solutions to Campyloacter contamination in poultry processing facilities in Poultry Today.  Her article was based on research at USDA’s ARS.

One foodborne pathogen of particular interest is campylobacter, which may cause mild to severe diarrhea and fever in humans and possibly result in a secondary, neurological condition known as Guillain-BarrÈ Syndrome. Campylobacter is commonly found in the intestinal tracts of swine, cattle and poultry. It may be deposited onto trucks, trailers and coops when the animals are transported to processing plants.

Continue Reading Preventing Campylobacter contamination in poultry processing

Monday August 14, 2006
By Stephen Ward
The chicken industry says sales have remained steady despite the scare about high rates of human campylobacter infection.
A University of Otago study that appeared last month said New Zealand’s campylobacter rates were the world’s highest. One finding was that up to 90 per cent of fresh raw chicken was contaminated when sold to consumers.
But the Poultry Industry Association’s executive director, Michael Brooks, believes contamination rates are more like 30-40 per cent.
The association said some regions had seen a minor fluctuation in sales, but the overall trend remained steady.
It stressed that proper cooking of meat killed campylobacter.
The scare came after Meat and Wool New Zealand figures showed a decline in poultry consumption in the year to March, unrelated to campylobacter.Continue Reading Disease scare fails to dent consumption of chicken

13 August 2006
By RACHEL GRUNWELL
Paul White was paralysed by poorly cooked lamb shanks. At one stage the Auckland engineer couldn’t breathe unassisted or even blink. His eyes had to be taped shut at night so he could sleep.
This is the frightening world of an extreme case of Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), which can leave people unable to move.
There is no single cause of GBS, but it can develop a week or two after a throat or intestinal infection. Campylobacter is one recognised cause.
A recent Otago University study showed New Zealand rates of campylobacter poisoning have nearly trebled in the past 15 years to be the highest in the world. Reported cases totalled 1425 in May alone.
Campylobacter is a bacterium that causes stomach cramps, fever and diarrhoea for up to a week.Continue Reading Undercooked lamb shanks leave engineer paralysed

Three times higher than Australia; 30 times higher than the US
09 July 2006
University of Otago public health researchers say New Zealand should seriously consider banning the sale of fresh chicken for human consumption, and switch to frozen chicken instead, to alleviate the country’s serious campylobacter epidemic.
A study by the University’s Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences’ researchers just published in the international journal Epidemiology and Infection paints an alarming picture about the rate of campylobacter infection in New Zealand. Infection rates have risen steadily for more than two decades and are now more than three times higher than that reported in Australia and 30 times higher than the United States. This is the first time that New Zealand’s comparative situation has been quantified and comprehensively reported in an international peer-review journal. Since the research was completed, rates have risen to a new high of 416/100,000 for the 12 months ending May 2006, based on 15,553 cases notified during that period.Continue Reading Study reveals New Zealand campylobacter rates highest in world

Thursday, 27 July 2006, 2:54 pm
Press Release: Green Party
27 July 2006
The Green Party is alarmed that the Government will not take any decisive action in the foreseeable future to reduce the epidemic of campylobacter infections in New Zealand while it waits for yet more advice.
In the House today the Minister of Food Safety, in response to questioning by Greens’ Food Safety Spokesperson Sue Kedgley, said they would not act until further research was conducted.Continue Reading Lack of decisive action on epidemic is alarming

11.jul.06
Helena IR
Laura Behenna
We’ve all heard news reports in recent years of people sickened or even dying from consuming food contaminated with E. coli or Salmonella bacteria.
So I was astonished recently to learn that bacteria called campylobacter cause many more cases of food-borne illness than either E. coli or Salmonella.
“Campylobacter is the leading cause of gastrointestinal illness in the United States, yet nobody’s heard of it,” Laura Hendley, a sanitarian with the Lewis & Clark City-County Health Department, informed me last week.
“Especially in this county,” her colleague Laurel Riek said. Riek added that between July 1, 2004 and June 30, 2005, Lewis & Clark County recorded 18 cases of campylobacter infection, compared with only six cases of illness from Salmonella.Continue Reading Bacterial villains are easy to prevent

May 2006
Journal of Food Protection, Volume 69, Number 5 pp. 1024-1027(4)
Gharst, Greg; Hanson, Dana; Kathariou, S.
Abstract:
Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli are leading bacterial causes of human gastroenteritis in the United States and other industrialized nations. These organisms frequently colonize avian hosts, including commercial poultry, but are also found in the gastrointestinal…

May 3, 2006
Stuff (New Zealand)
Nikki MacDonald
Public health experts are taking up their magnifying glasses, looking for clues to explain why New Zealand has the highest campylobacter rates in the world.
Notified cases of the nasty stomach bug increased again last year, after a brief drop in 2004, Environmental Science and Research’s 2005 notifiable diseases annual report shows.
Case numbers have risen by 75 per cent in the past five years, from about 8000 to almost 14,000 last year. New Zealand’s rates are the highest in the developed world, and Wellington rates are consistently some of the highest in the country.Continue Reading Searching for clues to NZ tummy trouble

Article published Saturday, July 16, 2005
TOLEDO ZOO
By ROBIN ERB
The Toledo Zoo’s petting zoo is scheduled to reopen today, less than a month after officials warned they might close it for the summer because a routine animal screening detected an infectious bacteria.
One Lucas County child became infected with campylobacteriosis, the illness caused by the bacteria campylobacter, after visiting the zoo in June, according to an epidemiologist at the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department.
But it was unclear whether the boy picked up the bacteria at the zoo or elsewhere.
Health officials say the organism is extremely common. Once passed to humans, it can cause a fever, diarrhea, and vomiting that typically lasts several days, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Continue Reading Petting area slated to reopen for patrons