The regionality of campylobacteriosis seasonality in New Zealand.

New Zealand has one of the highest incidences of campylobacteriosis in the developed world, which leads a global trend of increasing notifications of Campylobacter infections over the last decade. Foodborne and waterborne transmission have been implicated as significant mechanisms in the complex ecology of the disease in New Zealand. We examined both regional and temporal variation in notification rates to gain some insight into the role of the New Zealand environments in modifying disease incidence.

Spatial and temporal patterns of Campylobacter contamination underlying public health risk in the Taieri River, New Zealand.

New Zealand's freshwater ecosystems are subject to microbial contamination from a predominantly agricultural landscape. This study examines the spatial and temporal distribution of the human pathogen Campylobacter in the lower Taieri River, South Island (New Zealand). Enumeration of thermophilic Campylobacter from river samples was performed using a most probable number (MPN) method.

Disease surveillance in rural communities is compromised by address geocoding uncertainty: a case study of campylobacteriosis.

This study illustrates the impact of address geocoding uncertainty on rural estimates of reportable disease incidence using campylobacteriosis as an example. After all cases of campylobacteriosis notified from 1993 to 1997 had been geocoded, the minimum and maximum disease notification rates were calculated for rural and urban areas of New Zealand. The estimated maximum rural rates were four times higher than estimated minimum rural rates, whereas estimated minimum and maximum urban rates varied minimally.