- IR Lake1, FJ Colón-González1, J Takkinen2, M Rossi2, B Sudre2, J Gomes Dias2, L Tavoschi2, A Joshi2, JC Semenza2, G Nichols1,2,3,4,5
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View Affiliations Hide AffiliationsAffiliations: 1 School of Environmental Sciences, UEA, Norwich, United Kingdom 2 European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, Stockholm, Sweden 3 Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards, Public Health England, London, United Kingdom 4 Centre for Infections, Public Health England, London, United Kingdom 5 University of Exeter, Exeter, United KingdomIR Lakei.lake uea.ac.uk
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Citation style for this article: Lake IR, Colón-González FJ, Takkinen J, Rossi M, Sudre B, Dias J Gomes, Tavoschi L, Joshi A, Semenza JC, Nichols G. Exploring Campylobacter seasonality across Europe using The European Surveillance System (TESSy), 2008 to 2016. Euro Surveill. 2019;24(13):pii=1800028. https://doi.org/10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2019.24.13.180028 Received: 17 Jan 2018; Accepted: 08 Oct 2018
Exploring Campylobacter seasonality across Europe using The European Surveillance System (TESSy), 2008 to 2016
Abstract
Campylobacteriosis is the most commonly reported food-borne infection in the European Union, with an annual number of cases estimated at around 9 million. In many countries, campylobacteriosis has a striking seasonal peak during early/mid-summer. In the early 2000s, several publications reported on campylobacteriosis seasonality across Europe and associations with temperature and precipitation. Subsequently, many European countries have introduced new measures against this food-borne disease.
To examine how the seasonality of campylobacteriosis varied across Europe from 2008–16, to explore associations with temperature and precipitation, and to compare these results with previous studies. We also sought to assess the utility of the European Surveillance System TESSy for cross-European seasonal analysis of campylobacteriosis.
Ward’s Minimum Variance Clustering was used to group countries with similar seasonal patterns of campylobacteriosis. A two-stage multivariate meta-analysis methodology was used to explore associations with temperature and precipitation.
Nordic countries had a pronounced seasonal campylobacteriosis peak in mid- to late summer (weeks 29–32), while most other European countries had a less pronounced peak earlier in the year. The United Kingdom, Ireland, Hungary and Slovakia had a slightly earlier peak (week 24). Campylobacteriosis cases were positively associated with temperature and, to a lesser degree, precipitation.
Across Europe, the strength and timing of campylobacteriosis peaks have remained similar to those observed previously. In addition, TESSy is a useful resource for cross-European seasonal analysis of infectious diseases such as campylobacteriosis, but its utility depends upon each country’s reporting infrastructure.

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