This epidemiological investigation focussed on <i>Campylobacter jejuni </i>and <i>Campylobacter coli</i> in the north east of Scotland (Grampian). Scotland, in 2007, had an annual incidence of 101.5 cases/100,000 people, while in Grampian this figure was 120/100,000. <i>C. jejuni </i>and <i>C. coli </i>are ubiquitous and are natural commensals of a range of animals, therefore understanding the epidemiology of these organisms involves identifying their putative sources and monitoring their dynamics in such hosts. In this study, the use of various epidemiological tools showed that humans are infected from different sources and notably by chicken. Between 2001 and 2006, the population structure of <i>Campylobacter </i>in retail chicken changed more than in humans, as shown by characterisation by Multilocus sequence typing (MLST). There was however a high degree of overlap between these respective strains suggesting that chickens are a major source of human infection. Furthermore, comparison of the same strains using antimicrobial resistance profiles revealed the same commonality of strains. Infection in the high risk 0-4 year old age group was shown to be attributable mainly to chicken in an urban environment but more attributable to cattle in rural areas. This may reflect relative rates of exposure to these important sources of <i>Campylobacter.</i> Characterisation of a large outbreak in north east Scotland using various typing techniques identified chicken liver paté as a vehicle for <i>C. jejuni </i>infection; multiple strains were identified in the food and more than one patient displayed co-infection with different strains. These investigations have provided useful information which contributes to the overall surveillance of human campylobacteriosis and the epidemiology of <i>Campylobacter </i>in different hosts.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:499117 |
| Date | January 2008 |
| Creators | Gormley, Fraser James |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=25813 |
Page generated in 0.0023 seconds