Campylobacter in broiler flocks

The Norwegian Veterinary institute monitor the situation of Campylobacter in broiler flocks on assignment from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority.

Campylobacteriosis is currently the most commonly reported bacterial infectious disease in the Norwegian human population. In almost half of the cases, the infection is acquired in Norway. Consumption of poultry meat purchased raw has been identified as a significant risk factor together with the drinking of undisinfected water, eating at barbecues, occupational exposure to animals, and eating undercooked pork (Kapperud et al. 2003, Am J Epidemiol, 158:234-242).

The files called Handlingsplan is the action plan of the surveillance program, and is only available in Norwegian. 

  • Handlingsplan Campylobacter 2025

    Hovedformålet med handlingsplanen er å redusere eksponeringen i befolkningen for Campylobacter spp. via norsk  slaktekylling. Implementering og gjennomføring av handlingsplanen antas å kunne gi en folkehelsegevinst ved at færre mennesker smittes av Campylobacter spp. fra norsk fjørfekjøtt.

    ↓ Handlingsplan Campylobacter 2025

2024

Surveillance in 2024 showed that a total of 70 flocks (3.4%) tested positive for Campylobacter spp. when all broiler flocks slaughtered before 51 days of age during the period 1st May – 31st October were tested. In total 2 071 flocks from 495 farms were sampled. Of all farms sampled, 57 (11.5%) had at least one positive flock, and of these, 13 had two flocks. In contrast to previous years, the majority of the positive flocks comes from farms having only one positive flock representing 8.9% (44/495) of all farms tested, they contributed with 62.9% (44/70) of all positive flocks tested in 2024. The carcasses from the positive flocks were either heat treated or frozen for a minimum of three weeks before being marketed. This year’s result of 3.4% positive flocks is the lowest percentage of positive flocks detected since the surveillance period was limited to 1st May to 31st October instead of the whole year. The prevalence is very low compared to most other European countries.

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