Combating Campylobacter

Identifying the causes of Campylobacteriosis and reducing the risk of infection for humans

Campylobacter, a type of bacterium, is the most common cause of food poisoning and an important cause of bacterial infectious disease in the UK. The Food Standards Agency states that Campylobacter is responsible for more than 280,000 cases of food poisoning each year.

Aberdeen researchers have investigated sources of human Campylobacter food poisoning for several years. Their research found that Campylobacter infection in humans is linked with contaminated chicken and demonstrated that broiler chickens were the single most significant source of Campylobacter food poisoning. 

As a direct result of this research, there was a joint initiative between industry and government to devise a number of intervention strategies for the broiler chicken food chain and the chicken industry set a target to reduce Campylobacter in UK produced retail chicken. There were also several media campaigns about the need to minimise the risk of contamination from chicken during food storage and preparation.

Aberdeen researchers are continuing this research by looking at the effectiveness of these interventions in reducing Campylobacter food poisoning.

Our work helped educate consumers and has made our food supply safer

Dr Ken Forbes

Find Out more

• Dr Ken Forbes's staff profile

Key Publications

• Strachan N, Rotariu O, MacRae M, Sheppard S, Smith-Palmer A, Cowden J, Maiden M, Forbes K (2013) Operationalising Factors That Explain the Emergence of Infectious Diseases: A Case Study of the Human Campylobacteriosis Epidemic. PLOSone 8: e79331.

• Sheppard SK, Dallas JF, Strachan NJC, Macrae M, McCarthy ND, Falush D, Ogden ID, Maiden MCJ, Forbes KJ. (2009). Campylobacter Genotyping to Determine the Source of Human Infection. Clinical Infectious Diseases48:1072-1078.
• Strachan NJC, Forbes KJ. (2010). The growing UK epidemic of human campylobacteriosis. Lancet 376:665-667.
• Forbes KJ, Gormley JF, Dallas O, Labovitiadi M, Macrae RJ, Owen J, Richardson J, Strachan NJC, Cowden JM, Ogden ID, Mcguigan CC. (2009). Campylobacter: immunity and co-infection following a large outbreak in a farming community. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 47:111-116.
• Strachan NJC, Gormley FJ, Rotariu O, Ogden ID, Miller G, Dunn GM, Sheppard SK, Dallas JF, Reid TMS, Howie H, Maiden MCJ, Forbes KJ. (2009). Attribution of Campylobacter infections in northeast Scotland to specific sources using multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). Journal of Infectious Diseases, 1999:1205-1208.
• Gormley FJ, Macrae M, Forbes KJ, Ogden ID, Dallas JF, Strachan NJC. (2008). Has retail chicken played a role in the decline of human campylobacteriosis?  Applied and Environmental Microbiology 74:383-390.

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