In a joint seminar by Directorate General for Health and Consumer Affairs (DG SANCO), European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and ECDC at the European Parliament, Marc Sprenger highlighted the decrease of Salmonella infections in EU.
The seminar addressed issues such as the human cost of zoonoses, trends in food-borne diseases, challenges and lessons learnt from epidemiological investigations on the 2011 E.coli outbreak and salmonella controls.
The Shiga toxin-producing E. coli outbreak in Germany during 2011 showed the value of a solid microbiology network and the need to increase the speed of notification of cases of infectious diseases in Europe.
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has issued a new report from its Task Force on the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) outbreak in Germany and France. The Task Force has now concluded that one lot of fenugreek seeds imported from Egypt and used to produce sprouts is the most likely common link between the two outbreaks. EFSA continues to advise consumers not to grow sprouts for their own consumption and not to eat sprouts or sprouted seeds unless they have been cooked thoroughly.
In his speech to the Informal Health Council on 5th July, ECDC Director Marc Sprenger outlined the lessons learnt from the EHEC/STEC outbreak in EU, as well as the need to strengthen EU cooperation against epidemics.
This review summarises the clinical features, diagnosis and treatment of gnathostomiasis and highlights the rare but important different neurological syndromes that can occur as a consequence of migration of the worm within the CNS.
On Friday 24 June, France reported a cluster of eight patients with bloody diarrhoea, after having participated in an event in the commune of Bègles around Bordeaux on 8 June. Of these, seven have developed HUS, a severe complication of E. coli infection. In three of the patients, infection with E. coli O104:H4 has been confirmed.
On June 14, Eurosurveillance published new information on the characteristics of the German outbreak strain of E.coli and how these microbiological findings have been shared in real time by public health microbiology experts to disseminate best laboratory practice for case detection and public health investigations across Europe and beyond.
In the context of the ongoing outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) that affects by now citizens from 13 EU member states, it is crucial not only to align the efforts regarding investigation and control of the outbreak but also to share knowledge among practitioners across Europe on the patho-physiological and clinical characteristics of infection caused by this unusual epidemic strain, and review patient management options.