Campylobacter and Salmonella cases stable in EU, says EFSA and ECDC report

26 Feb 2021 --- The number of reported human cases of illness caused by Campylobacter and Salmonella bacteria across Europe appears to be stabilizing over the past five years. This is according to the latest report on zoonotic diseases by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Campylobacteriosis is the most reported gastrointestinal disease in the EU since 2005 and affected more than 220,000 people in 2019. Salmonellosis was the second most reported zoonotic disease in the EU, affecting about 88,000 people.

Of the 66,113 samples of ready-to-eat foods (foods that do not need to be cooked prior to consumption), 0.3 percent tested positive for Salmonella.

Meanwhile, 1.5 percent of the 191,181 non-ready-to-eat samples were positive.

Eighteen of the Member States reporting on Salmonella control programs in poultry populations met all the reduction targets. This compares to 14 in 2018.

The most common sources of salmonellosis outbreaks were eggs and egg products.The next most reported diseases were Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections, yersiniosis and listeriosis.

According to the report, the trend of confirmed human cases of listeriosis was stable in 2015 to 2019, after a long period of increase.

There were 2,621 cases reported in 2019, mainly affecting people over 64 years old. It was the most severe zoonotic disease, with high hospitalization rates at 92 percent and fatality rates at 17.6 percent.

Eggs major cause 
The report also monitors the cause of foodborne disease outbreaks in the EU, events during which at least two people contract the same illness from the same contaminated food. 

Salmonella remained the most frequently detected agent and caused 926 outbreaks, but the number of outbreaks due to S. Enteritidis decreased. 

The most common sources of salmonellosis outbreaks were eggs and egg products. 

Meanwhile, noroviruses in fish and fishery products caused the highest number (145) of outbreaks that have “strong evidence” implicating a food source.

A total of 5,175 foodborne outbreaks were reported in 2019, a decrease of 12.3 percent compared to 2018.

The report also includes data on Mycobacterium bovis/caprae, Brucella, Yersinia, Trichinella, Echinococcus, Toxoplasma gondii, rabies, Q fever, West Nile virus and tularaemia.

Edited by Gaynor Selby