The European Union summary report on trends and sources of zoonoses, zoonotic agents and food‐borne outbreaks in 2016

Abstract

This report of the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control presents the results of the zoonoses monitoring activities carried out in 2016 in 37 European countries (28 Member States (MS) and nine non-MS). Campylobacteriosis was the most commonly reported zoonosis and the increasing European Union (EU) trend for confirmed human cases since 2008 stabilised during 2012-2016. In food, the occurrence of Campylobacter remained high in broiler meat. The decreasing EU trend for confirmed human salmonellosis cases since 2008 ended during 2012-2016, and the proportion of human Salmonella Enteritidis cases increased. Most MS met their Salmonella reduction targets for poultry, except five MS for laying hens. At primary production level, the EU-level flock prevalence of target Salmonella serovars in breeding hens, broilers, breeding and fattening turkeys decreased or stabilised compared with previous years but the EU prevalence of S. Enteritidis in laying hens significantly increased. In foodstuffs, the EU-level Salmonella non-compliance for minced meat and meat preparations from poultry was low. The number of human listeriosis confirmed cases further increased in 2016, despite the fact that Listeria seldom exceeds the EU food safety limit in ready-to-eat foods. The decreasing EU trend for confirmed yersiniosis cases since 2008 stabilised during 2012-2016, and also the number of confirmed Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections in humans was stable. In total, 4,786 food-borne outbreaks, including waterborne outbreaks, were reported. Salmonella was the most commonly detected causative agent -with one out of six outbreaks due to S. Enteritidis -followed by other bacteria, bacterial toxins and viruses. Salmonella in eggs continued to represent the highest risk agent/food combination. The report further summarises trends and sources for bovine tuberculosis, brucellosis, trichinellosis, echinococcosis, toxoplasmosis, rabies, Q fever, West Nile fever and tularaemia.

Inactivation of Foodborne Bacteria Biofilms by Aqueous and Gaseous Ozone

“…In the period 2008–2016, there has been an increasing trend of confirmed listeriosis cases, and EFSA reported 2,536 confirmed human cases of listeriosis in 2016. The pathogen was most frequently detected in fish and fishery products, pork meat products, and in soft and semi-soft cheeses made from raw or low-heat-treated milk (EFSA, 2017). This pathogen can successfully colonize food-contact surfaces, and therefore resist for long time in food plants.…”

“…Despite the enormous advancement in processing technologies to assure food safety, contaminated food and water still continue to cause infectious diseases worldwide, and this is not just an underdeveloped world problem. For example, in Europe, in 2016, foodborne outbreaks (including waterborne outbreaks) caused 49,950 illnesses, 3,869 hospitalizations and 20 deaths (EFSA, 2017). As well as causing foodborne diseases, microorganisms can lead to significant economic losses due to spoilage both at the primary production level and the retail.…”

Bacillus cereus—a Multifaceted Opportunistic Pathogen

“…In case of an exogenous entry, the source of infection can Fig. 1 Reported human cases linked to B. cereus foodborne outbreaks in the EU between 2008 and 2016 [13] be normally detected, and in case of an endogenous entry, the source mostly remains unclear except for patients with a clear history of intravenous drug abuse. In some cases, there are indications that also non-gastrointestinal B. cereus infections could be traced back to contaminated food.…”

“…In 2016, bacterial toxins ranked second among the causative agents in foodborne and waterborne outbreaks, and 17.7% of the reported foodborne outbreaks were caused by bacterial toxins, including B. cereus emetic and diarrheal toxins [13]. Concerning the food matrices, involved in these outbreak situations, "mixed food" was reported in 23%, "other food" in 17%, and "cereal products and legumes" in 14% of the outbreaks [13]. In routine diagnostics, the members of the B. cereus group will not be differentiated; instead, the whole group will be identified as B. cereus s.l.…”

Multi‐country outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis infections linked to Polish eggs

“…No information on MLVA typing was reported. Source: The European Union summary report on trends and sources of zoonoses, zoonotic agents, and food-borne outbreaks in 2016, EFSA [5] Note: Data from 171 outbreaks are included: Austria (7), Belgium (3), Croatia (4), the Czech Republic (5), Finland (1), France (17), Germany (6), Greece (3), Hungary (9), Lithuania (21), Luxembourg (1), the Netherlands (1), Poland (83), Romania (1), Slovakia (6), the United Kingdom (3). In 2016, the pre-accession country Montenegro reported 5 strong-evidence food-borne S. Enteritidis outbreaks.…”