Health researchers, MPI clash as study finds campylobacter cases have surged
Photo:
Supplied
Too many people are still ending up sick and in hospital from contaminated fresh chicken meat, public health professionals say.
New analysis released by the Public Health Communication Centre (PHCC) on Thursday shows hospitalisation rates for campylobacter infection have increased by almost 70 percent in 17 years. The study found contaminated fresh
chicken meat
remained the dominant source, causing an estimated 77 percent of infections.
But the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has disputed the figures and is accusing the researchers of scaremongering.
The PHCC study noted that, in 2007, regulatory measures were introduced to reduce contamination levels in fresh chicken meat tested in processing plants. Rates of both hospitalisation and notification halved in just a few months as a result.
But since 2008,
contaminated chicken in New Zealand
caused more than 600,000 symptomatic illnesses, over 9000 hospitalisations, at least 60 deaths and around $1.4 billion in economic costs.
Lead author, University of Otago professor Michael Baker, said that in 2023, the year with the most recent data, there were nearly a thousand hospitalisations. "By any means this is a very consequential health problem and we feel it needs a much more vigorous response."
Government agencies were "too complacent" about the increasing rates of campylobacter infection caused by contaminated chicken, he added.
"If you saw a 70 percent rise in our most common foodborne disease surely you'd be putting a lot of effort into investigating that to figure out what's going on, and I'm not aware of any effort going into that. One of the major problems that we're seeing is our agencies have become very complacent about this infection."
The government should consider a formal inquiry into this serious, long-term regulatory failure, Baker said.
"The
large Havelock North waterborne outbreak
of campylobacter infection [in 2016] resulted in an exhaustive inquiry and a complete reorganisation of the drinking water supply sector. That common source outbreak caused about 7570 cases. By comparison, the 'common source' epidemic caused by contaminated chicken meat results in the equivalent of a Havelock North-sized outbreak every three months in NZ, or 80 such outbreaks since 2008."
But Food Safety's deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle disagreed with the PHCC's analysis, arguing that between 2006 and 2020 reported rates of foodborne campylobacter infections had halved. These figures were based on public notifications of infections provided by the health system, he said.
"In 2020 New Zealand Food Safety set the target of reducing the rate by a further 20 percent. This milestone was reached at the end of 2024, when rates of foodborne campylobacter infections acquired in New Zealand fell to 70 cases per 100,000.
The drop in infection was thanks to a "concerted effort over many years" from government, scientists and industry throughout the supply chain, he said.
"New Zealand has made considerable reductions in campylobacter infections. We keep an open mind about changes that can further reduce campylobacteria infection, which is a serious foodborne illness, but will not consider changes that are not founded on good evidence."
Arbuckle accepted more people were ending up in hospital with campylobacter but says that was partly because they had put off going to the GP and got sicker, he said.
He also agreed that campylobacteriosis was "the most common, significant foodborne illness in New Zealand".
But he said data suggested "a continued downward reduction due to the sustained efforts between industry, health authorities, the regulator and other parts of the sector such as retail".
"The prevalence [of campylobacteriosis] is reducing, it's not where people would like it to be, but some of the content in this report is simply erroneous and alarmist, particularly the comments about deaths attributed - the simple fact is that ... since 2007 we've had three recorded cases of death where campylobacteriosis was the principle single contributing factor, not 60 as he [Baker] suggests.
"If New Zealand was experiencing the level of deaths directly attributable to campylobacteriosis at the numbers that the authors suggest, there would be an outcry."
But Baker said that deaths from campylobacter infection were generally poorly diagnosed and recorded. By looking at hospital discharge data, however, the researchers were able to get an indication of deaths in hospital with 60 reported deaths for patients with a discharge diagnosis of campylobacter infection as the principal or additional diagnosis over the 14-year period from 2008 to 2021, an average of 4.3 per year. An additional estimated 12 deaths from Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) from this source took the total to 68 in the 17-year period, or four per year.
In a statement, Poultry Industry Association executive director Michael Brooks said he agreed the paper was "unnecessarily alarmist".
"The poultry industry works closely with NZ Food Safety and met their set targets to further reduce campylobacter by 20% by 2024," he said.
"We have also met the standards of the National Microbial Database. NZ Food Safety assesses that Michael Baker's paper has significant limitations and relies on several incorrect assumptions and unsupported estimates to reach its conclusions."
The study's co-author, University of Otago Professor Nick Wilson defended their research on
Morning Report
, saying hospitalisation data is the most reliable source to understand what's happening with this "epidemic".
"They're [MPI] focusing on the wrong data. You need to take a broad comprehensive picture that includes looking at the hospitalisations and deaths. Hospitalisations are far more reliable then the data sources that they're focusing on," he said.
"They're just not taking a proper health perspective. You'd expect that a watchdog that's meant to be protecting public health and protecting food safety, it [MPI] just doesn't have a health focus."
MPI looks like they are protecting their own reputation, Prof Wilson said.
"This is a health problem... You need health experts. It's out of their ballpark."
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero
,
a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Gore residents told not to drink tap water due to high nitrate levels
Gore residents are being advised not to drink their tap water. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly Residents in the Southland district of Gore are being told not drink tap water, after high levels of nitrate were found in the water supply. Gore District Council said testing at Cooper's Well had revealed elevated levels of nitrate and while the health risk was low, people should avoid using tap water for drinking and food preparation as a precaution. It said Mataura's water was unaffected. The councils said boiling water did not remove nitrates and free drinking water would be available at the Eccles Street playground, Hokonui Drive by the fire station, Grace Church on Hamilton Street, and Wentworth Street by Talbot Street. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
Taupō clinicians plan for emergency hospital shutdown amid critical staff shortages
Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook Contingency measures drawn up by concerned Taupō Hospital clinicians include plans to move patients to Rotorua Hospital if staff shortages forced Taupō's clinic to close. The hospital, which serves a population of 40,000 people in the tourist region, has struggled to attract enough senior doctors to fill its roster, which forced workers to plan for the worst. The hospital relies on locums to fill gaps, and permanent staff take on a high portion of night and weekend work. There are 3.3 full-time-equivalent senior doctors working there permanently, out of nine funded positions to staff the emergency department and general ward. Overnight, one senior doctor is on duty to take care of the department and ward. RNZ has obtained a copy of the Escalation and Closure Plan for Taupō Hospital, which outlines what could happen if the hospital were forced to shut down due to not finding enough staff. No closures have happened, and Health NZ's top manager for the area, regional deputy chief executive Cath Cronin, has told RNZ she wouldn't allow this and was instead focused on keeping the hospital open. But closures aren't unprecedented. Last year, Westport's hospital shut its doors several times due to short staffing. The plan's introduction outlines the gravity of a closure: "Temporary closure of Taupō Hospital poses a potential risk to the population and, as such, Health NZ Lakes has a responsibility for managing the risk with a contingency plan, to safeguard the public to the best of its ability." The document said its purpose was to set out an agreed process when there weren't enough senior doctors to staff the hospital's emergency department. It said authority to consent to a closure sat with the regional deputy chief executive - Cronin - and "every possible option for covering vacant roster shifts must be exhausted" before the plan was put into action. If closure were required, contingency measures would swing into action three days before the unstaffed shift, allowing time to tell the public and other affected parties. If the emergency department were to close, but some services continue, security would be stationed at the hospital entrance with a list of patients allowed inside. A February memo from senior clinical staff to management outlined further details. The senior staff cited upcoming vacancies and difficulties in getting locums. "Consequently, we are unable to guarantee that the Taupō Hospital will be able to cover every shift in the ED or the inpatient ward. Therefore, we thought it prudent to have contingency options documented and agreed in advance, which could be employed if and when this situation arose." The memo described possible situations in which the plan would be enacted. "Although none of these scenarios are considered acceptable under normal circumstances, we may be forced to implement one or more of them to ensure continuation of service provision," it said. Two scenarios involved using doctors from Rotorua to keep open Taupō's general ward, or its ward and emergency department. A third scenario suggested closing the Taupō general ward, which usually has about 15 patients. "All inpatients requiring admission will be transferred to Rotorua, increasing the workload for Rotorua physicians and registrars/nurses." Option four was to use telehealth for emergency department patients. Option five tabled closing the department, which sees an average of 50 patients a day. This would also potentially involve telehealth, but otherwise, emergency cases would have to travel to Rotorua. The memo said risks for this were: "No access to emergency care for Taupō-Turangi communities. No onsite clinician for ward. No onsite support for birthing unit." The sixth option was the status quo, with a reliance on locums (temporary staff). This was time-consuming to sort and expensive. Emails released to RNZ show the hospital's battle to find staff. On 15 May last year, then-clinical lead Jared Bayless said there were five emergency department shifts, including four overnight ones, unstaffed in the coming week. Another email from Bayless, a month later, discussed juggling staff to cover vacancies during the week, which stretched the weekend roster thinly. There was concern that the hospital would have to operate at decreased capacity. Bayless subsequently informed emergency services about the possible staff shortfall. In other messages, Bayless stated what would happen if staffing wasn't found to cover all shifts, options that the Escalation and Closure Plan covered. A draft memo to Cronin in October from Health NZ's Lakes district group director of operations, Alan Wilson, again talked about the possibility of closure when staff couldn't be found, and outlined the risks of this, including having to rely on an already under-pressure Rotorua Hospital. The memo said $1.29 million was spent on locums for Taupō Hospital in 2023-24. It recommended changing the staffing structure away from senior doctors working 24/7, and employing more doctors to allow for round-the-clock coverage. Cronin found out about the memo from doctor unions and emailed them to say she had concerns about the issues at Taupō Hospital's emergency department and how they'd been addressed. "All discussions, planning or other communications regarding Taupō ED are now on hold." Cronin also emailed Wilson expressing her disappointment about the memo's contents and that he let it happen. "The proposed plan is not a direction I will endorse without further discussion, so don't progress any further planning or discussions with the team." However, the Escalation and Closure Plan was circulated early this year in further emails. Cronin told RNZ this week the Escalation and Closure Plan wasn't an "active plan". "My approach is always to work on plans to keep hospitals open and EDs open," she said. "This wasn't an approach that I endorsed. It got a life of its own, with the team wanting to do the right thing but not in quite the right way. "When I found out about it, I did stop that approach to making a plan to close the ED, and instead we reconvened to work together on how we keep our ED open." Cronin said she'd never been asked to consider closure, as outlined in the plan, although it was challenging to fill shifts. "But we always get there, one way or another," she said. "We always manage to cover that. We haven't had to close. "We've got a particularly tough time in the next couple of months, not only in Taupō but across the whole country. "We're getting right into the middle of winter, with lots of sick leave, but everyone's endeavouring to do what they can to maintain that access for patients." There were plenty of other mitigations before closure would even be considered. "We take that week by week when we plan, then day by day, or shift by shift if we need to." Cronin said this year she met with Taupō's medical staff weekly and would regularly check in with the lead clinician. Asked about shifting patients to Rotorua if required, Cronin said moving patients to ensure they received the proper standard of care was something that happened nationwide. This week, there were 4.7 full-time-equivalent senior doctor vacancies in Taupō, which would drop to 2.7 in October when two staff members joined. Two extra junior doctors had recently joined, and one would soon start. By January, another two were due, which left two vacancies. She said recruitment would focus on how Taupō was a great place to live and the quality of the clinical team at the hospital. Rural hospital medicine specialist Ralston D'Souza has just taken over as Taupō Hospital's clinical lead. He said the lack of permanent staffing at Taupō wasn't new, and he and the other clinicians developed plans in response. "It's probably been known about for a couple of years," he said. "With that short staffing, there's going to be gaps in the normal, everyday roster. So, as a group, we were trying to [say] to management: Look, this is a risk to the organisation. "If permanent staff are unable to fill these gaps, if locums are unable to fill these shifts, we have to have a contingency plan on what we need to do. "There's a huge amount of people affected in the hospital and in the community if there's no doctor in the hospital, so we wanted to get something on paper or get protocols in place if that were to occur because of the vulnerability of our workforce." He said additional junior doctors were welcome, although it would take some time until they were trained to fill overnight shifts, with their varied responsibilities. But he was more hopeful than previously, and he said Cronin was working closely with the hospital on staffing issues. Clinicians, management and the community were working together to find solutions, D'Souza said. Sarah Dalton, the executive director of the senior doctors' union, the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists, said clinicians drawing up the Escalation and Closure Plan showed there weren't enough doctors to staff the hospital. "Between 40 to 50 percent of their roster at any given time is filled either by locums or their employed staff being prevailed upon to do extra shifts, so do extra work for extra pay to keep the place open." She said the arrangements to fill the roster were "hand to mouth, subsistence stuff". Dalton criticised Health NZ for paying little attention to the well-being of permanent staff, while spending plenty on locums. Patient Voice Aotearoa's Malcolm Mulholland said the Escalation and Closure Plan showed how concerned clinicians were. "It's pretty confronting seeing that plans have been drafted to actually shut down one of our hospitals in New Zealand, and to know that it serves a community of 40,000 people or more. "It's extremely concerning." Mulholland said the advocacy group held a public meeting in Taupō earlier this year, where he heard from clinicians' concerns about staff shortages and the prospect of patients transferring to Rotorua. It was planning to hold a further public meeting in the town on 30 July at 6pm, at Taupō's Hilltop School. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
5 hours ago
- RNZ News
Patients to be moved to Rotorua if Taupo Hospital closes
health infrastructure 43 minutes ago Contingency measures drawn up by concerned Taupo Hospital clinicians show plans to move patients to Rotorua Hospital if staff shortages forced Taupo's clinic to close. The hospital, which serves a population of 40,000 people in the tourist region, has struggled to attract enough senior doctors to fill its roster. This forced the hand of workers to plan for the worst. Reporter Jimmy Ellingham obtained a copy of the Escalation and Closure Plan for Taupo Hospital and spoke to Melissa Chan-Green.
