Quantitative risk assessment of human campylobacteriosis related to the consumption of chicken meat in two Italian regions

Campylobacteriosis is the most frequently reported zoonotic disease in humans within the European Union. The consumption of contaminated chicken meat is considered one of the main sources of human infection. Although there are no official data on the incidence of Campylobacter infection in Italy, the available studies suggest that this infection is a major problem also in Italy. The authors developed a simulation model to quantitatively estimate the expected annual number of human cases of campylobacteriosis in the Italian regions of Abruzzo and Molise, due to the cross-contamination during the handling of Campylobacter jejuni contaminated chicken meat in domestic kitchen. The authors considered two different models for the dose-response relationship, given their crucial effects on the model's outputs. The expected percentage of human population, experiencing Campylobacter gastroenteritis episodes every year in Abruzzo e Molise regions, varied between 0.8% and 1.8%, according to the dose-response model.