Resistance of Salmonella and Campylobacter to commonly used antimicrobials is frequently observed in humans and animals, reveals a report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).
This report provides an overview of the main findings of the 2020–2021 harmonised AMR monitoring in Salmonella spp., Campylobacter jejuni and C. coli in humans and food-producing animals and relevant meat thereof.
Salmonellosis is the second most commonly reported gastrointestinal infection, and an important cause of food-borne outbreaks in the EU/EEA. In 2019, 89 066 laboratory-confirmed cases of salmonellosis were reported, out of which 139 were fatal.
In 2021, 2 268 confirmed cases of listeriosis were reported by 30 EU/EEA Member States. The EU/EEA notification rate was 0.51 per 100 000 population. Germany, France, and Italy had the highest numbers of reported cases (560, 435 and 241, respectively), corresponding to 54.5% of all cases reported in the EU/EEA. The highest incidence rates were observed in Iceland, Finland, and Denmark. Figure 1 illustrates the country-specific age-standardised rates per 100 000 population.
Hepatitis A cases in 2021 were at their lowest levels since EU-level hepatitis A surveillance began in 2007, while five other food and waterborne diseases are rising towards pre-pandemic levels. The information is revealed in the Annual Epidemiological Report 2021, of which six chapters are published today by ECDC.