Gastrointestinal campylobacteriosis in industrialised countries: comparison of the disease situation with salmonellosis, and microbiological contamination assessment.

The science-based assessment of foodborne zoonotic risk is used to evaluate the public health impact of a hazard and to guide public decision-making on control measures. Key information for the hazard characterisation and microbiological contamination assessment phases of risk assessment may be obtained from the collection and structured statistical analysis of international data. This approach was used for the hazard characterisation phase of a risk assessment of gastrointestinal campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis in 30 industrialised countries over the period 2005-2009. The results showed an overall increase in the annual ratio campylobacteriosis/salmonellosis (R(moy) > 2), despite significant differences among countries (P < 0.0001). For countries with complete data over 20 years, the results showed significantly higher exposure to campylobacteriosis among certain population segments (men, children under 5 years of age and adults aged between 20 and 30), as well as in summer. A number of paired factors (Campylobacter species/animal species-meat type) are observed in this consumer exposure. However, the overall rate of bacterial transfer in meat supply chains varies widely, with far lower values for cattle (0.16) and pigs (0.24) than for poultry (0.60) and chickens (1.17). A lack of harmonised epidemiological data on the contamination status of foodstuffs (frequency, level, site, and species) further hampers the accurate identification of critical points of contamination and of the spread of the hazard throughout the food chain.