Headlines - Reports of Campylobacter infections in five French regions in July 2013

Between July 3 and 7, 2013, seven reports of an increase in Campylobacter infections from five different regions (including Franche-Comté) were submitted to the InVS. In Franche-Comté, the report came from a physician at the Belfort-Montbéliard Hospital Center (CHBM) who observed a resurgence of community-acquired Campylobacter diarrhea cases, hospitalized between June 14 and 22, 2013. Nationally, such a high number of spontaneous reports of Campylobacter infections is unusual, even in the context of the well-documented early summer peak for this pathogen. An investigation was launched in the five regions to identify a possible common source of contamination underlying these reports. The results of the investigations did not point to a common source of contamination among the patients involved in the reports. Given the geographic spread of the cases, hypotheses of a common waterborne contamination or contamination originating from farm animals were ruled out from the outset. Regarding a possible food source, the hypothesis of raw milk consumption—a food often implicated in clusters of Campylobacter cases in the United States—was also ruled out. Consumption of various poultry products has been reported for all cases interviewed to date. The identification of a wide variety of inter- and intra-laboratory profiles of C. jejuni strains typed at the CNR supports the results of the epidemiological investigation.According to an opinion from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the majority (50–80%) of human Campylobacter infections are attributable to the consumption of contaminated poultry [www.efsa.europa.eu/fr/efsajournal/doc/1437.pdf]. A European study conducted in 2008 estimated that 76% (70–81%) of broiler chickens in France are contaminated with Campylobacter, a figure close to the European average estimated at 71% [www.efsa.europa.eu/fr/efsajournal/doc/1503.pdf]. Given the high percentage of poultry contaminated with Campylobacter, the most effective ways to prevent human infections are to cook the meat thoroughly and to follow proper hygiene practices in the kitchen to avoid cross-contamination.