Reports released by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Tuesday (12 December) show that Campylobacteriosis and Salmonellosis were the most frequently reported zoonotic diseases in humans in the EU in 2022. However, the number of cases was lower than in the pre-pandemic years of 2018-2019.
For West Nile virus, an increase in the number of infections was observed, with the second highest number of cases ever recorded in the EU (1,133 cases) in 2022. This, and more information on zoonotic diseases, was published in their latest annual EU One Health zoonoses report.
Campylobacteriosis remained stable in 2022 compared to the previous year, with 137,107 cases, with chicken meat being the most common source of the infections. Salmonellosis had 65,208 cases in 2022, compared to 60,169 in 2021. 19 Member States and the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) successfully met all established targets for the reduction of Salmonella in poultry, the highest number since 2018.
Ole Heuer, Head of Section Epidemic-Prone Diseases at ECDC, commented: “The number of reported human cases for the two most common foodborne diseases remain at lower levels than before the pandemic. However, given the impact of these infections on human health, further vigilance and efforts to reduce the number of cases is needed.”
Frank Verdonk, Head of EFSA’s Biological Hazards & Animal Health and Welfare unit, added: “Climate change is increasing the surge of vector -borne diseases. That’s why today a One Health approach integrating human and animal risk assessments is the way forward.”
In addition, the report also investigated foodborne outbreaks, with the number of reported cases increasing by 44%, from 4,005 to 5,763 outbreaks in 2022. These resulted in the highest number of outbreak-related deaths in the past decade (64), with Listeria monocytogenes being the primary cause.
EFSA is also publishing story maps and dashboards which provide information on Brucella, zoonotic tuberculosis and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli and allow for searches and visualisation of data.
Reports released by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Tuesday (12 December) have revealed that Campylobacteriosis and Salmonellosis were the most frequently reported zoonotic diseases in humans in the EU in 2022. However, the number of cases was lower than in the pre-pandemic years of 2018-2019.
For West Nile virus, an increase in the number of infections was observed, with the second highest number of cases ever recorded in the EU (1,133 cases) in 2022. This, and more information on zoonotic diseases, was published in their latest annual EU One Health zoonoses report.
Ole Heuer, Head of Section Epidemic-Prone Diseases at ECDC, commented: “The number of reported human cases for the two most common foodborne diseases remain at lower levels than before the pandemic. However, given the impact of these infections on human health, further vigilance and efforts to reduce the number of cases is needed.”
Campylobacteriosis remained stable in 2022 compared to the previous year, with 137,107 cases, with chicken meat being the most common source of the infections. Salmonellosis had 65,208 cases in 2022, compared to 60,169 in 2021. 19 Member States and the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) successfully met all established targets for the reduction of Salmonella in poultry, the highest number since 2018.
Frank Verdonk, Head of EFSA’s Biological Hazards & Animal Health and Welfare unit, added: “Climate change is increasing the surge of vector -borne diseases. That’s why today a One Health approach integrating human and animal risk assessments is the way forward.”
In addition, the report also investigated foodborne outbreaks, with the number of reported cases increasing by 44%, from 4,005 to 5,763 outbreaks in 2022. These resulted in the highest number of outbreak-related deaths in the past decade (64), with Listeria monocytogenes being the primary cause.
EFSA is also making available story maps and dashboards which provide information on Brucella, zoonotic tuberculosis and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli and allow for searches and visualisation of data.
Latest reports released by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on Tuesday (12
Derick is an experienced reporter having held multiple senior roles for large publishers across Europe. Specialist subjects include small business and financial emerging markets.