Tackling bacteria in poultry sector

The approach to Campylobacter and Salmonella in the poultry sector in the Netherlands has been successful. This is the conclusion of the Dutch association for the poultry processing industry; Nepluvi. The number of human diseases has fallen sharply when it comes to Campylobacter, despite the fact that it has remained stable at European level in recent years. In addition, reports from EFSA and RIVM show that the number of human Salmonella contamination is also small compared to other sources.

Slaughterhouses in the Netherlands are continuously working on further improvements in the slaughter process. They do this, for example, by adding extra wax steps in the production process. Since Campylobacter is also contagious via surface water or direct contact, more and more attention is being paid to reducing this bacterium.

In the report of the RIVM 'State of Zoonoses 2017' it is established that the number of Dutch cases of disease caused by Campylobacter has further decreased in 2017. This is a decrease of more than 13% compared to 2016 and in that year there was also a decrease of 12.9% compared to 2015. Within Europe, however, these figures remain stable, which makes the decline in the Netherlands remarkable.