Scientific Documents

Report on food-borne outbreak reporting systems in place in the Member States of the European Union and on needs for information on food-borne outbreaks in the European Community

Summary (16 KB)

Report (156 KB)

Summary

A European Union (EU) wide survey was carried out by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), its Food-borne Outbreak Contractor, the Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung (BfR) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in order to collate information on the food-borne outbreak reporting systems currently in place in the Member States of the European Union and to find out the needs for information on food-borne outbreaks at Community level. Two types of questionnaires were sent to 135 officials of 30 European countries, the European Commission, EFSA’s Biological Hazards and Contaminants in the Food Chain panels, Enter-Net, DIVINE–Net, the Office International des Epizooties (OIE) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Replies were received from 26 countries, the European Commission, and members of EFSA’s Scientific Panel on Biological Hazards.
The results indicated that reporting on food-borne outbreaks is mandatory in most Member States. The majority of the systems differentiate between family, general and international outbreaks and all of them include water-borne outbreaks. Most countries record information on the number of human cases, hospitalisations and deaths related to the outbreaks. The description of the incriminated food item is mostly entered as free text. Most systems record the places of food preparation and food consumption as well as factors contributing to contamination of the food. The methods of food processing and preparation are less frequently recorded.
Regarding the information needs at the Community level, the three objectives most often mentioned were the identification and the monitoring of the vehicles of infection, the causative agents and the risk factors of food-borne outbreaks. The following variables concerning human cases were considered to be the most important: the number of human cases and deaths, the beginning, the end as well as the location of the outbreak and the type of the outbreak. Out of the variables related to the food vehicle, the identification of the food vehicle, its origin, the evidence for incriminating the food vehicle, the places of food preparation and consumption, the origin of the contamination of the food vehicle, the factors contributing to its contamination as well as the results of the laboratory analysis of the food vehicle were considered to be the most relevant variables.
Many national systems already collect detailed information on the human cases involved as well as on the food vehicles incriminated in food-borne outbreaks. Another positive development is that in several countries efforts have been made to strengthen the collaboration between the different authorities involved in food-borne outbreak investigations.
The survey provides a valuable insight on the information needs and the current reporting systems on food-borne outbreaks. This information is instrumental for further developing of the Community reporting system for food-borne outbreaks.