Campylobacteriosis in New Zealand: A new twist to the tale? Part two (the consumer and the regulator)

New Zealand has a much higher rate of reported campylobacteriosis cases than the rest of the developed world. It has been assumed that New Zealanders have worse home hygiene practices during food preparation than the citizens of other developed countries. If this is the case then the study has to address how to educate New Zealanders more effectively about food hygiene practices. study using the Bayesian approach has indicated that hygiene has a significant impact on the total probability of illness, as an increase in the poor hygiene percentage by approximately 50% reflected an increase of approximately 50% in the probability of illness. The findings of the QMRA and a review of consumer food handling practice in New Zealand and other developed countries confirm the hypothesis that poor hygiene may contribute to the high rate of campylobacteriosis in New Zealand. There is a lack of New Zealand data and studies regarding consumer knowledge and handling practices. The few studies that were conducted were not comprehensive. The poor hygiene practice of consumers could be linked to demographic, socioeconomic and psychological variables, as well as to personal receptivity to new information, previous knowledge and cultural influence. This study recommends using social marketing as a cost effective option for a future educational or communication strategy aimed at educating New Zealanders and improving their domestic food handling practices. tly, the priority for the scientific community, risk managers, policy makers and health professionals is not to celebrate the questionable (for the scientific community in New Zealand and abroad) rapid decline of campylobacteriosis cases but to accurately investigate further the rapid decline, and to think about how to further reduce the current rate as it is still the highest among the developed countries.