A case-control study was conducted in Sweden to study risk factors for domestically acquired Campylobacter jejuni/coli infections among children aged less than 6 y. A total of 126 cases, reported to ...the national surveillance system were recruited over 1 y. Controls, selected from the population register, were matched to the cases by age, gender, place of residence and time of infection of the case. Information was gathered by posted questionnaires. Two separate conditional regression models were developed including and excluding 'protective' factors. Two of the factors significantly associated with Campylobacter infection were water-related: having a well in the household (OR=2.6) and drinking water from a lake/river (OR=7.4; 6.0). Other exposures associated with increased risk were: having a dog (OR=8.4; 3.8) and eating grilled meat (OR=5.5; 2.1). Drinking unpasteurized milk was borderline significant in 1 model (OR=3.7). Eating sausage was protective (OR=0.05). Eating chicken was not a significant risk. Exposures such as eating grilled meat and drinking water from a lake or a river were more common in the warm months, a factor that may partly explain the observed seasonality. The authors suggest that differences between risk factors across studies may reflect geographical and age-specific differences in the sources of infection.
ABSTRACT Small-scale farming of meat chicken flocks using local native breeds contributes to the economy of many rural livelihoods in Vietnam and many other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). ...These systems are also the target of high levels of antimicrobial use (AMU); however little is known about the profitability and sustainability of such systems. Since small scale farms are commercial enterprises, this knowledge is essential in order to develop successful strategies aimed at curbing excessive AMU. Using longitudinal data from 203 randomly selected small-scale (100-2,000 chickens) native chicken flocks raised in 102 farms in Dong Thap province (Mekong Delta, Vietnam), we investigated the financial and economic parameters of such systems and the main constraints to their sustainability. Feed accounted for the largest financial cost (flock median 49.5% Inter-quartile range (IQR) 41.5-61.8%) of total costs, followed by day-old-chicks (DOCs) (median 30.3% IQR 23.2-38.4%), non-antimicrobial health-supporting products (median 7.1% IQR 4.7-10.5%), vaccines (median 3.1% IQR 2.2-4.8%), equipment (median 1.9% IQR 0.0-4.9%) and antimicrobials (median 1.9% IQR 0.7-3.6%). Excluding labor costs, farmers achieved a positive return on investment (ROI) from 120 (59.1%) flocks, the remainder generated a loss (median ROI 124% IQR 36-206%). Higher ROI was associated with higher flock size and low mortality. There was no statistical association between use of medicated feed and flock mortality or chicken bodyweight. The median daily income per person dedicated to raising chickens was 202,100 VND, lower than alternative rural labour activities in the Mekong Delta. In a large proportion of farms (33.4%), farmers decided to stop raising chickens after completing one cycle. Farmers who dropped off chicken production purchased more expensive feed (in 1,000 VND per kg) (11.1 10.6-11.5 vs. 10.8 10.4-11.3 for farms that continued production (p=0.039) and experienced higher chicken mortality (28.5% 12.0-79.0% vs. 16 7.5-33.0% (p=0.004). The turnover of farmers raising chickens in such systems represents a challenge in targeting messages on appropriate AMU and on chicken health. In order to ensure sustainability of small-scale commercial systems, advisory services need to be available as farmer initiate new flocks, and support them in the early stages to help overcome their limited experience and skills. This targeted approach would support profitability whilst reducing risk of emergence of AMR and other disease problems from these systems. Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. Footnotes * https://github.com/dinhbaotruong/Profitability_model
PDF
