This report collects all COVID-19 long-term care facilities (LTCF) data reported to ECDC from 2021 and concludes the EU/EEA LTCF COVID-19 specific surveillance data collection from 2021-2023.
Infection with Salmonella spp. is the second most reported zoonotic disease in humans with 60 050 reported cases in 2021 in the European Union (EU) and Salmonella is associated with the highest number of foodborne outbreaks. The overall EU trend of salmonellosis incidence for the years 2017 to 2021 have not changed significantly. To prevent foodborne diseases such as salmonellosis, human surveillance systems at different levels are essential to monitor the disease and to have an early detection and response to outbreaks.
ECDC has worked with EU/EEA countries to develop a methodology for regular national reporting of existing national surveillance data on COVID-19 in LTCFs, aiming for maximum feasibility. This is to enable ECDC to communicate timely information on epidemiological trends of COVID-19 in LTCFs, in support of national and EU/EEA-level preparedness and response activities.
This report presents the results of the 11th round of the external quality assessment (EQA-11) scheme for typing of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica organised for the national public health national reference laboratories (NPHRLs) in ECDC’s Food- and Waterborne Diseases and Zoonoses network (FWD-Net) managed by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). The EQA-11 scheme was arranged by the Section for Foodborne Infections at the Statens Serum Institut (SSI) in Denmark.
The Protocol is targeted at the national public health reference laboratories to guide the susceptibility testing needed for EU surveillance and the reporting to ECDC.