Campylobacter control strategies in European poultry production

In 2008 as in previous four years, campylobacteriosis was the most frequently reported zoonotic disease in humans in the European Union (EU) with fresh poultry meat as one of the most important reservoir of human infection (EFSA, 2010a). The reduction of campylobacter prevalence and load in live poultry is believed to be one of the most effective ways of reducing the contamination of foodstuffs and the number of human campylobacter cases. On this purpose some European Member States adopted national campylobacter control or monitoring programs but a European strategy to reduce campylobacter is still missing. The first step in this direction has been a European Union-wide baseline survey carried out in 2008 at slaughterhouses to obtain comparable values of prevalence of campylobacter in broiler batches and on broiler carcasses for all Member States. Current pre-harvest strategies available to reduce campylobacter contamination in poultry production include the application of on-farm biosecurity measures, the decontamination of litter, and the supplementation of feed with compounds inhibiting campylobacter and the treatment of drinking water. Moreover, novel strategies, specifically targeting campylobacter control at pre-harvest level, are in progress, including administration of probiotics, vaccination, antibiotics used in combination with molecule able to prevent the emergence of antibiotic resistance and antimicrobial alternatives (i.e. bacteriophages, bacteriocins). This paper is an overview on pre-harvest control strategies