Source account for Campylobacter infections in Denmark

The aim of this project is to develop the first source account for Campylobacter jejuni infections in Denmark based on results from Multi Locus Sequence Typing (MLST) and antibiotic resistance analyses of various Campylobacter jejuni isolates collected from relevant reservoirs (food, animals and environment) and from patients. Initially, the project will collect C. jejuni isolates from patients, production animals (pigs, cattle, lambs and broilers), Danish produced and imported meat (from broilers, turkeys, ducks and lambs) and environmental reservoirs. The isolates will primarily be collected through national surveillance programmes, but additional isolates from sources not included in the surveillance will also be sampled. Approximately 1,500 C. jejuni isolates will be collected in 2007-2008.

The isolates will be sub-typed using MLST and analysed for resistance to selected antibiotics. The obtained data will, together with existing knowledge about occurrence, be used to develop a mathematical model describing the attribution of different sources to human infection with C. jejuni. For this purpose we will look into the existing source account models developed for food-borne bacterial pathogens. The approach will be to compare different subtypes from animal reservoirs, raw meat (domestic produced and imported) and humans, to determine the importance of different sources on human infections.