Institute for Veterinary Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Freie Universität Berlin, Königsweg 67, 14163, Berlin, Germany.
Institute of Food Safety and Food Hygiene, Freie Universität Berlin, Königsweg 67 and 69, 14163, Berlin, Germany.
BMC Public Health. 2020 Mar 16;20(1):336. doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-08476-0.
Campylobacter is the most commonly reported causative agent of foodborne bacterial infection in Germany, and contaminated chicken meat is an important source of this zoonotic agent. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge of consumers in Germany about Campylobacter, Salmonella and Toxoplasma and their transmissibility via meat. In addition, we investigated the level of knowledge between selected consumer groups and whether the results coincided with those of international studies.
We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 1008 consumers in Germany via an online panel to record, analyse and evaluate the state of knowledge about Campylobacter, Salmonella and Toxoplasma. The participants were selected according to age, gender and federal states to be representative of the German population.
Overall, 68.3% of the respondents had never heard of Campylobacter, 20.2% had heard of Campylobacter but did not know how to protect themselves, and only 11.5% knew how to protect themselves from Campylobacter infections. Slightly more than half (52.2%) of the respondents who had at least heard of Campylobacter knew that Campylobacter was transmissible via meat. Knowledge increased significantly with age. Participants over 60 years old knew about Campylobacter almost three times as often as the 16- to 19-year-old comparison group (OR = 2.982). Consumers who had at least a secondary school certificate were almost twice as likely to know about Campylobacter as those who had no school certificate or a lower secondary school certificate (OR = 1.899). Participants who were not actors in the food chain were significantly less frequently informed about Campylobacter than were those who were actors in the food chain. Consumer knowledge of Toxoplasma was better than that of Campylobacter. Consumers have the most knowledge about Salmonella.
Consumers in Germany are predominantly poorly informed about Campylobacter and the transmission route via meat. General knowledge of Toxoplasma is better than that of Campylobacter. Among the three pathogens, consumers are best informed about Salmonella. This finding highlights the importance of making existing information materials more accessible to consumers in the future to increase their knowledge, with the objective of reducing the incidence of Campylobacter infections.
空肠弯曲菌是德国最常见的食源性细菌感染病原体，受污染的鸡肉是这种人畜共患病原体的重要来源。本研究的目的是确定德国消费者对空肠弯曲菌、沙门氏菌和弓形虫的认识及其通过肉类传播的情况。此外，我们还调查了选定消费者群体之间的知识水平，以及结果是否与国际研究一致。
我们通过在线小组对德国 1008 名消费者进行了横断面调查，以记录、分析和评估他们对空肠弯曲菌、沙门氏菌和弓形虫的认知状况。参与者是根据年龄、性别和联邦州进行选择的，以代表德国人口。
总体而言，68.3%的受访者从未听说过空肠弯曲菌，20.2%听说过空肠弯曲菌，但不知道如何保护自己，只有 11.5%知道如何预防空肠弯曲菌感染。略多于一半（52.2%）至少听说过空肠弯曲菌的受访者知道空肠弯曲菌可通过肉类传播。知识水平随年龄显著增加。60 岁以上的参与者对空肠弯曲菌的了解几乎是 16-19 岁对照组的三倍（OR=2.982）。至少有中学毕业证书的消费者对空肠弯曲菌的了解几乎是没有学校证书或中学毕业证书的消费者的两倍（OR=1.899）。非食物链参与者对空肠弯曲菌的了解明显低于食物链参与者。消费者对弓形虫的了解优于空肠弯曲菌。消费者对沙门氏菌的了解最多。
德国消费者对空肠弯曲菌和通过肉类传播途径的了解主要不足。对弓形虫的一般了解优于空肠弯曲菌。在这三种病原体中，消费者对沙门氏菌的了解最好。这一发现强调了未来向消费者提供更多现有信息材料的重要性，以提高他们的知识水平，从而降低空肠弯曲菌感染的发生率。
