Campylobacter spp. in Icelandic poultry operations and human disease.

(Accepted 28 August 2002)SUMMARYWe describe the observed relationship of campylobacter in poultry operations to human cases ina closed environment. During 1999 in Iceland, domestic cases of campylobacteriosis reached peaklevels at 116/100000 and in 2000 dropped to 33/100000. Approximately 62% of broiler carcassrinses were contaminated with Campylobacter spp. in 1999. During 2000, only 15% of the broilerflocks tested Campylobacter spp. positive. In 2000, carcasses from flocks which tested positive onthe farms at 4 weeks of age were subsequently frozen prior to distribution. We suggest that publiceducation, enhanced on-farm biological security measures, carcass freezing and other unidentifiedfactors, such as variations in weather, contributed to the large reduction in poultry-bornecampylobacteriosis. There is no immediate basis for assigning credit to any specific intervention.We continue to seek additional information to understand the decline in campylobacteriosis andto create a risk assessment model for Campylobacter spp. transmission through this well definedsystem.INTRODUCTIONCampylobacteriosis continues as the most frequentbacterial cause of human gastroenteritis in manyNordic countries [1, 2]. In the United States, approxi-matelytwomillioncasesofhumancampylobacteriosisoccur each year [3]. Researchers report that a ma-jority of human campylobacteriosis is associated withpoultry [3–10]. Although it is strongly suggested thatpoultry is the most important reservoir for Campylo-bacter jejuni, some disagreement exists with this asser-tion.Partofthislackofaccordoriginatesoverdisputedepidemiologicalassumptionsthathavebeenemployed