Cost-utility analysis to control Campylobacter on chicken meat: dealing with data limitations

Area of Science:

• Food safety
• Public health economics
• Microbial risk assessment

Background:

• Campylobacter infections pose a significant public health burden.
• Economic evaluations are crucial for prioritizing food safety interventions.
• Controlling Campylobacter on chicken meat requires understanding intervention costs and effectiveness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a cost-utility analysis of interventions for controlling Campylobacter on chicken meat.
• To identify data gaps and assumptions influencing the economic evaluation of these interventions.
• To determine the most cost-effective strategies for reducing Campylobacter contamination.

Main Methods:

• Cost-utility analysis (CUA) framework.
• Calculation of cost-utility ratios (CUR) in net costs per avoided disability-adjusted life year (DALY).
• Sensitivity analyses to assess the impact of data gaps and assumptions on CUR estimates.

Main Results:

• Limiting fecal leakage during processing, carcass decontamination, and phage therapy demonstrated relatively favorable CUR estimates across sensitivity analyses.
• Data gaps, particularly biological ones and cost information, necessitated assumptions impacting CUR.
• CUR estimates are sensitive to changes in Campylobacter incidence, intervention effectiveness, and costs.

Conclusions:

• Despite inherent uncertainties, specific interventions show potential for cost-effective Campylobacter control.
• The perspective of all consumers (Dutch and non-Dutch) can improve CUR estimates.
• Further research to fill data gaps is recommended to refine economic evaluations of food safety interventions.