A Cosmopolitan One Health Issue: Campylobacteriosis

Abstract

In Europe, since 2005, campylobacteriosis is considered among the most frequent cause of bacterial gastrointestinal infectious disease. The diffusion is cosmopolitan, accounting for an increasing global burden on public health, affecting primarily children under 4 years of age, causing gastroenteric symptoms, but also different extra intestinal pathologies. The infection appears associated also with malnutrition and growth impairment in disadvantaged communities. The consumption of contaminated poultry meat is considered to be the most frequent way of transmission. The progressive diffusion and increase of antibiotic-resistant Campylobacter strains is an issue, particularly in South America and Southeast Asia. Effective regulatory approaches are necessary at national and international level by both sanitary and veterinary authorities to counter such serious zoonosis, in the spirit of One Health.