Food Protection Trends - February 2009 - 84

IAFP’s Fourth European Symposium on Food Safety AbstrActs Lisbon, Portugal 19–21 November 2008 OPENING SESSION: Food Safety in the European Union Key Note Lecture: Food Safety in Portugal Laurentina Pedroso, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias, Av. do Campo Grande, 376, 1749-024 Lisboa, Portugal Zoonoses are diseases or infections that are transmissible from animals to humans. The infection can be caused by the direct contact from animals, or due to the ingestion of contaminated food which can occur at many different stages of the food chain farm-to-fork; thus, it may be controlled in different ways and at various stages of the chain. The diseases caused through consumption of contaminated foodstuffs may result in a wide range of symptoms, depending on the pathogenic agent which also determines the severity of the consequences which range from mild symptoms to death. The regulatory framework for monitoring and controlling foodborne diseases is described in EU legislation Directive 2003/99/EC. Since 2005, the Animal Diseases Transmissible to Humans (Zoonoses) Unit of the European Food Safety Authority, in collaboration with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), has been entrusted to prepare yearly summary reports on trends and sources of zoonoses, zoonotic agents, antimicrobial resistance, and foodborne outbreaks in the European Union, which is validated by Member States and published by EFSA. According to Directive 2003/99/EC the Member States should report annually on a mandatory basis, the results on the monitoring of Brucellosis, Campylobacteriosis, Echinococcosis, Listeriosis, Salmonellosis, Trichinellosis, Tuberculosis, Verotoxigenic Escherichia coli and antimicrobial resistance; on a mandatory basis the results of epidemiological investigations of foodborne outbreaks, and, according to the epidemiological situation, the results on monitoring of viral, parasitic and bacterial zooonoses. The last available report was published in December 2007, and includes the most recent data available, from year 2006. In 2006, twenty-four Member States submitted information on the occurrence of zoonoses, zoonotic agents, antimicrobial resistance and foodborne outbreaks. Further information on zoonoses cases in humans was acquired from the ECDC. The information available covers 17 diseases. The EFSA-ECDC last annual report on zoonoses indicates that these diseases affect over 350,000 people in the European Union every year in the Member States that provide information. Campylobacter is still the most frequently reported animal infection transmissible to humans. Over 175,000 people in the EU suffered from Campylobacter infections in 2006 (46 cases per 100,000 people). There were no reports of human Campylobacteriosis from Portugal. Resistance of Campylobacter bacteria to ciprofloxacin, in both humans and animal, is of increasing concern in the EU and some studies suggest that this may also be the case in Portugal. Salmonellosis remains the second most frequently reported human zoonotic disease across the EU with 160,649 people infected in 2006 (35 cases per 100,000). The number of confirmed human Salmonellosis reported in Portugal were 387 which corresponds to 3.7 cases per 100,000 people, a number considerably lower than the average in the other EU Member States; this may be due to underreporting of cases. Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium were the most frequently reported agents. The number of human listeriosis cases was up by 8.6% in the EU, from 1,427 cases in 2005 to 1,583 in 2006. No confirmed cases of human listeriosis were reported from Portugal. Portugal has a human population of around 10 million people but every year, as one of the main tourism destinations in Europe, receives more than double its population in visitors. This may have implications in human health with cases being acquired in one country and reported as imported cases in another country. The Health Protection Scotland in a 2008 surveillance report presented information on the surveillance system with information on outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease believed to have been acquired abroad. In 2007, information was circulated concerning 73 reported outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease in persons returning to Scotland from abroad. Turkey was the most frequently reported country, associated with 13 outbreaks, Tunisia was associated with 10 outbreaks, and Portugal was linked to four outbreaks. These 73 outbreaks were an increase of five (7%) over 2006 when 68 overseas outbreaks were reported. 84 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | FEBRUARY 2009

Food Protection Trends - February 2009

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