---

Campylobacter - an ongoing issue

Campylobacter infection is the most common cause of acute gastroenteritis in Australia. Since Food Safety & Hygiene's 2003 update on the problem of foodborne illness associated with Campylobacter, the situation in Australia has not improved. The number of notifications of campylobacteriosis ranged between 15,000 to 16,000 for the years 2001–2005 (Communicable Diseases Australia, 2006). These figures do not include NSW where campylobacteriosis is not reportable.

As campylobacteriosis generally causes a mild to moderate illness, medical practitioners are often not involved, resulting in an estimated 10 to 100 times lower notification rate compared to true incidence. Although the illness rarely results in death, a small proportion of those infected develop serious complications, predominantly Guillain-Barré syndrome (Hall and Kirk, 2005). Campylobacteriosis is thus a significant public health issue and is currently a priority for food safety managers in developed countries.

Determining the mode of transmission of Campylobacter is difficult as cases are repor ted sporadically and few are defined as an outbreak. It is estimated that 75 percent of cases of campylobacteriosis in Australia are foodborne and implicated foods include unpasteurised milk, non-chlorinated water and undercooked chicken. Food production animals such as cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry are a reservoir of pathogenic strains of Campylobacter. The bacterium is carried in the intestines of healthy stock and it can be transferred to milk during collection and animal carcasses during slaughter. Campylobacter survival along the food chain subsequently depends on the product. For example, it is inactivated in milk by pasteurisation, it can survive on moist surfaces of chicken carcasses, but is inhibited by the drier conditions on red meat carcasses.

In Australia, the poultry industry places a strong emphasis on food safety programs as poultry products have been implicated in outbreaks of campylobacteriosis. Food Standards Australia New Zealand is developing a Primar y Production and Processing Standard for Poultry Meat in Australia to fur ther protect consumers from foodborne illnesses associated with the consumption of poultry. In December 2005, a Draft Assessment Report for the Standard was published (Food Standards Australia New Zealand, 2005). It stated that the most impor tant on-farm risk factors for Campylobacter contamination of poultr y are biosecurity, for example transmission from one farm to another by contaminated crates, and age of the birds. At the consumer end of the food chain, the repor t indicated that the probability of campylobacteriosis was influenced by the level and prevalence of Campylobacter in raw poultry at the end of processing, cross-contamination during preparation of ready-to- eat foods, such as salads, and adequacy of cooking.

Responsibility for minimising Campylobacter levels and prevalence in raw poultry products lies right along the production and processing chain. Monitoring and verification programs need to be established to validate any control steps implemented. Consumer education programs also play an impor tant role in minimising the risk of Campylobacter infection and emphasis must be placed on correct handling of raw poultry, including the need to cook it thoroughly.