Campylobactcriosis: Elucidating the disease burden, risk perception and costs to rural communities and their families

Laura MacRitchie, University of Aberdeen

Link: REDUCING ESCHERICHIA COLI O157 RISK IN RURAL COMMUNITIES

Campylobacter infections have traditionally been associated with consumption of contaminated poultry (Tarn et al. 2007). However, recent advances in spatial epidemiology have demonstrated the increased risk of human campvlohacleriosis in rural families. For example rural children are 1.6 .7 and 1.7 fold more like to contract campylobacteriosis in Denmark (Kthelberg et al. 2005), Manitoba Canada (Green et al. 2006) and North-east Scotland (Strachan et al. 2007) respectively. The major environmental risk factors for these pathogens have been studied and it is likely that contact with farm animals or their faeces (cattle, sheep and pigs which act as an asymptomatic reservoir of this zoonoses), being on a private water supply and drinking unpastcurised milk are all important.

In Scotland, the annual reported incidence is approximately 100 cases/100 000 but in reality the disease burden is estimated to be at least 7 fold higher (Anon. 2000). Campylobacter infection causes diarrhea, other symptoms include fever, abdominal pain, nausea, headache  and muscle pain. Relapses are not uncommon and chronic symptoms occurs (e.g. Guillain- Barre disease). The vast majority of infections in the human population are sporadic, with outbreaks being rare and hence the low public knowledge of this disease compared with the much rarer E. coli Ol 57 gastrointestinal infections.

The current proposal will mirror the methodologies being applied in our E. coli O157 RELU grant and apply them to the campylobacier problem in rural areas. Our study areas will be selected from the rural area of Grampian which has high densities of livestock farming and more than fourteen-thousand properties on unchlorinated private water supplies.