Relevance of Campylobacter to public health--the need for a One Health approach.

ABSTRACT

Campylobacter species belong to the most important foodborne bacteria which cause gastroenteritis in humans in both developed and developing countries. With increasing reporting rates, the public awareness towards Campylobacter infections is growing continuously. This strengthens the necessity to establish intervention measures for prevention and control of thermophilic Campylobacter spp. along the food chain, as in particular poultry and poultry meat represent a major source of human infections. An interdisciplinary One Health approach and a combined effort of all stakeholders are necessary to ultimately reduce the burden of campylobacteriosis cases in humans. Numerous studies point out, however, that at present a complete elimination of Campylobacter in the food chain is not feasible. The present aim should therefore be to establish control measures and intervention strategies to minimize the occurrence of Campylobacter spp. in livestock (e.g. poultry flocks) and to reduce the quantitative Campylobacter burden in animals and foods. To this end, a combination of intervention methods at different stages of the food chain appears most promising. That has to be accompanied by targeted consumer advice and education campaigns to raise the awareness towards Campylobacter infections.