Background: In the autumn of 1992 there was an excess of campylobacter cases in Nottingham compared with the national average. No relative increase was seen for salmonella infections.
Methods: A case-control study with a postal questionnaire was carried out to determine exposure to possible risk factors. The patients were 282 laboratory confirmed cases of campylobacter and 318 culture negative controls who had submitted a faeces specimen. All patients were aged 18 or older. The main outcome measures were relative risks for campylobacter infection compared with controls with a negative faeces culture.
Results: Twenty-five per cent of cases were associated with foreign travel. Eating chicken and handling raw poultry were the main risk factors for UK-acquired infections. The number of cases with a history of contact with puppies or drinking milk that was either unpasteurized or from bottles with bird-damaged tops was small.
Conclusion: Eating chicken and handling raw poultry are the main risk factors for campylobacter infections. Contact with puppies or drinking potentially infected milk can explain only a small percentage of campylobacter infections. Risk factors for infection acquired abroad follow a different pattern compared with UK-acquired cases.