The incidence rate of campylobacteriosis in EU member states varied between 30 and 13,500 per 100,000 of the population and was significantly correlated with the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in broiler chickens, according to Dr Arie Havelaar of the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment and co-authors at Utrecht University, the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control and the Technical University of Denmark.

In their paper published recently in Epidemiology and Infection, they report that the incidence rate of salmonellosis in EU member states varied between 16 and 11,800 per 100,000 population and was significantly correlated with the prevalence of Salmonella Enteritidis in laying hens.

The researchers based these conclusions on their study, in which they estimated the true incidence of campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis in the European Union (EU) in 2009. The estimate was based on disease risks of returning Swedish travellers, averaged over the years 2005–2009, and anchored to a Dutch population-based study on incidence and aetiology of gastroenteritis.

For the 27 EU member states, the incidence of campylobacteriosis was about 9.2 (95 per cent CI: 2.8–23) million cases, while the incidence of salmonellosis was 6.2 (95 per cent CI: 1.0–19) million cases.

Only one in 47 cases (95 per cent CI: 14–117) cases of campylobacteriosis and one 1 in 58 cases (95 per cent CI: 9–172) cases of salmonellosis were reported in the EU.

Reference

Havelaar A.H., S. Ivarsson, M. Löfdahl and M.J. Nauta. 2013. Estimating the true incidence of campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis in the European Union, 2009. Epidemiology and Infection, 141 (02):293-302. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0950268812000568

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