Foodborne Disease Prevention and Broiler Chickens with Reduced Campylobacter Infection

Simon Bahrndorff, Lena Rangstrup-Christensen, Steen Nordentoft, and Birthe Hald

Author affiliations: Author affiliations: Technical University of Denmark, Aarhus, Denmark (S. Bahrndorff, L. Rangstrup-Christensen, S. Nordentoft, B Hald); Technical University of Denmark, Mørkhøj, Denmark (S. Bahrndorff, S. Nordentoft, B Hald); National Veterinary Institute, Uppsala, Sweden (L. Rangstrup-Christensen)

Abstract

Studies have suggested that flies play a linking role in the epidemiology of Campylobacter spp. in broiler chickens and that fly screens can reduce the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. We examined the year-round and long-term effects of fly screens in 10 broiler chicken houses (99 flocks) in Denmark. Prevalence of Campylobacter spp.–positive flocks was significantly reduced, from 41.4% during 2003–2005 (before fly screens) to 10.3% in 2006–2009 (with fly screens). In fly screen houses, Campylobacter spp. prevalence did not peak during the summer. Nationally, prevalence of Campylobacter spp.–positive flocks in Denmark could have been reduced by an estimated 77% during summer had fly screens been part of biosecurity practices. These results imply that fly screens might help reduce prevalence of campylobacteriosis among humans, which is closely linked to Campylobacter spp. prevalence among broiler chicken flocks.

Campylobacter spp. is the most common cause of enteritis in humans in the European Union; 190,566 cases were reported in 2008 (1). However, it has been estimated that only 2.1% of all cases are reported and that in the European Union the true incidence of campylobacteriosis is ≈9 million cases per year (2). From 2008 through 2009, the number of human infections in the European Union increased 4%, although there was no statistically significant trend from 2005 through 2009 (1). The incidence of campylobacteriosis seems to differ among European countries (3). In addition, campylobacteriosis and its sequelae are calculated to cost 0.35 million disability-adjusted life-years per year, totaling €2.4 billion per year (2).
Campylobacteriosis is largely perceived to be a foodborne disease. Poultry meat is considered the primary source, causing 20%–30% of all cases; and 50%–80% of all cases might be attributed to the chicken reservoir as a whole (2). The incidence of campylobacteriosis cases among humans has been shown to correlate with the prevalence of Campylobacter spp. among broiler chickens (4).The prevalence of Campylobacter spp. in broiler chicken batches varies considerably between EU countries; in 2008, prevalence ranged from 2% to 100% (average 71%) (5). Therefore, an international priority for ensuring food safety is the elimination of Campylobacter spp. from broiler chicken flocks (6,7). However, even strict compliance with all biosecurity regulations has failed to control infections in broiler chicken houses during peak months in the summer, indicating that transmission routes, and the blocking of these routes, remain to be fully elucidated and understood.
Studies have repeatedly suggested that flies play a linking role in the epidemiology of Campylobacter spp. infections by transmitting Campylobacter spp. from fecal sources to poultry (8–10). Moreover, seasonality of infections in humans (11) and broiler chicken flocks (3,4,12,13) is similar in northern climates; prevalence peaks during the summer, as does abundance of flies (11,14). In addition, studies have shown that flies can carry Campylobacter spp. under natural conditions (9,15,16) and that hundreds of flies per day pass through ventilation inlets into broiler chicken houses (15,17). The fly that has been found to most often carry Campylobacter spp. is the housefly (Musca domestica) (15). The retention of Campylobacter spp. in this species of fly has been found to be relatively short (18). Altogether, these findings suggest that flies could explain some aspects of Campylobacter spp. epidemiology.
This association between flies and Campylobacter spp. is not surprising because flies are natural carriers of many pathogens, including viruses, fungi, bacteria, and parasites (9,16,19–21). Studies have shown that different fly species can harbor up to 100 species of pathogenic microorganisms and that bacteria alone are linked to >65 diseases in humans and animals (21–23). Houseflies live in close association with humans and breed in animal manure, human excrement, garbage, animal bedding, and decaying organic matter where bacteria are also abundant (24). Houseflies have been suggested to be vectors of bacteria, such as Shigella spp., Vibrio cholerae, Escherichia coli, Aeromonas caviae, and Campylobacter spp. (15,25–29).
To test the hypothesis that the influx of flies increases transmission of Campylobacter spp. to broiler chickens during the summer, Hald et al. mounted fly screens on 20 broiler chicken houses in Denmark during the summer (June–October) of 2006 (30), when the number of Campylobacter spp.–positive flocks in Denmark peaks (4). The outcome was a statistically significant decrease, from 51.4% to 15.4%, of Campylobacter spp.–positive flocks in the fly-screen houses, whereas prevalence for control houses remained unchanged before and after the intervention (51.7% and 51.4%, respectively). During the summer of 2008, the effect of fly screens was also tested on farms in Iceland where prevalence rates of Campylobacter spp. among flocks had been high (31). That study found a reduction from 48.3% to 25.6% among flocks in 19 houses from one broiler chicken company and from 31.3% to 17.2% in 16 houses from another company. These published results of the fly screen intervention have covered only the summer and only 1 season.
According to the scientific opinion on Campylobacter in broiler chicken meat production, published by the European Food Safety Authority Panel on Biological Hazard (2), high priority has been given to generating solid long-term data on biosecurity interventions, including the effect of hygiene barriers and fly screens, as a way to reduce prevalence of Campylobacter spp. among flocks of broiler chickens (hereafter referred to as flock prevalence) (2). Our aim, therefore, was to generate year-round and long-term data on the effect of fly screen interventions. We present 4 years of data (2006–2009) on the long-term effect of fly screens on Campylobacter spp. prevalence among broiler chicken flocks.