Vaccination of poultry against Campylobacter in the EU: what are the economic benefits?

Abstract

Campylobacter is the most commonly reported gastrointestinal bacterial pathogen in the European Union (EU) since 2005. Reportedly, 212,064 humans have been confirmed ill in 2010 due to a Campylobacter infection in the EU. The major source of infection, among sporadic human cases is to be found in the food chain, from farm-to-fork, where poultry meat is considered to be one of the major vehicles of Campylobacter infections in humans, accounting for 50–80% of reported cases. One way to reduce this economic loss to society is perhaps the introduction of a new Campylobacter vaccine, which could be administered to one-day old chicks. This would effectively reduce the outbreak of illness among the general population, enhancing general well-being, and increase the efficiency of the employed labor force. In the present paper, we assess the potential economic benefits of a mandatory vaccination program at the EU27 level. In this study, benefits are mainly assumed to comprise lower risk of illness due to Campylobacter infections, and hence increased labor productivity. In the modeled analysis presented in this paper, the possible price of the vaccine is estimated when it is assumed that: (i) the number of reported human campylobacteriosis cases in the EU is reduced by 65%, (ii) an import ban on non-vaccinated chicken meat into the EU is implemented, (iii) an increased preference for EU chicken meat outside the EU increases exports marginally, and (iv) that the aggregate EU welfare has to remain unchanged as measured by the equivalent variation in income. The analysis shows that the benefits to society of such a vaccination program amount to 1.24 eurocents per dose, and about 50% higher, if no import ban is implemented.

Keywords:

• Campylobacter
• vaccination costs
• general equilibrium modeling
• socioeconomic benefits

Notes

1. The EFSA's Panel on Biological hazards estimated in its scientific opinion that 50–80% of Campylobacter infections can be attributed to the chicken reservoir of Campylobacter as a whole (EFSA, 2010, 2012a).

2. The recalibration of the database was done using the SplitCom program (Horridge 2005) to disaggregate the two GTAP sectors, “other animal products” and “other meat products”.

3. In Table I the quantities of production and trade are measured in tons, but the GTAP database comprised of value flows. Therefore, these quantities are indirectly calibrated into the database using the associated values of production and trade found in the FAOSTAT database.

4. As discussed previously, it might be argued that the Campylobacter concentration in frozen chicken meat is not large enough to justify a ban on imports into the EU on health grounds, and furthermore, chicken production in e.g. Brazil or other countries could choose to vaccinate the part of their chicken production destined for the EU market to overcome the ban.