PLS: The European Union One Health 2023 Zoonoses Report

Disclaimer

• This Plain Language Summary (PLS) is a simplified communication of EFSA and ECDC’s The European Union One Health 2023 Zoonoses Report. The full scientific report can be found here.
• The purpose of the PLS is to enhance transparency and inform interested parties on EFSA’s work on the topic using simplified language to present a summary of the main findings.

Background

• Zoonoses are infectious diseases that can spread between animals and humans due to bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites (zoonotic microorganisms).
• These microorganisms can infect people through contaminated food and water, contact with infected animals, vectors (e.g. mosquitoes, ticks) or a contaminated environment.
• Directive 2003/99/EC requires EFSA to examine zoonotic disease data from EU Member States and prepare an annual report on the spread of diseases by zoonotic agents, in collaboration with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), which is responsible for the surveillance of communicable diseases in humans.
• These reports detail the occurrence of zoonotic agents in humans, food, and animals, providing valuable information for veterinary and food safety authorities to plan activities aimed at reducing the presence of zoonotic diseases in animals and the environment, thereby lowering the number of human cases.

How did EFSA and ECDC carry out this work and what data were used?

• EFSA and ECDC used surveillance and monitoring data from Member States on the occurrence of zoonotic disease and zoonotic agents in humans, food, animals and the environment, and microbiological contaminants in food.
• The data were analysed to create summaries and identify trends, considering data quality and sampling strategies for food and animals.

What were the most important outcomes?

• In 2023, the five most reported zoonoses in humans were:
  • campylobacteriosis, with 148,181 cases (45.7 cases per 100,000 people), an increase in notification rate of 4.3% compared to 2022;
  • salmonellosis, with 77,486 cases (18 cases per 100,000 people), an increase of 16.9% compared to 2022;
  • Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections, causing 10,217 cases (3.1 cases per 100,000 people), an increase of 30% compared to 2022;
  • yersiniosis, caused by Y. enterocolitica or Y. pseudotuberculosis, with 8,738 cases (2.4 cases per 100,000 people), an increase of 13.5% compared to 2022;
  • listeriosis, with 2,952 confirmed invasive human cases of Listeria monocytogenes (0.66 cases per 100,000 people), an increase in notification rate of 5.8% compared to 2022.
• The five most reported zoonoses in humans were all foodborne diseases.
• The number of foodborne outbreaks reported in 2023 (5,691) has slightly decreased by 1.2% compared to 2022, while the number of reported human cases (52,127), hospitalisations (2,894) and deaths (65) increased by 7.2%, 4% and 1.6%, respectively. The number of deaths from foodborne outbreaks in 2023 was the highest of the last 10 years. Salmonella spp., Bacillus cereus toxins and norovirus were the most common causes of foodborne outbreaks in 2023. The number of outbreaks they caused increased compared to 2022.
• Salmonella, when paired with either Mixed foods or Broiler meat (Gallus gallus) and products thereof, consistently ranked among the top 10 in all pairs of causative agents and food vehicles in strong-evidence foodborne outbreaks with the highest health impact in 2023 in the EU, in terms of number of foodborne outbreaks, cases, hospitalisations and deaths. Notably, Salmonella combined with Eggs and egg products was the most frequent pairing for total number of outbreaks and cases, and the second most common for total number of hospitalizations. Additionally, Salmonella spp. was associated with most multi-country outbreaks (17 outbreaks, corresponding to 81% of the total multi-country outbreaks).
• The number of countries meeting all established targets for reducing Salmonella in poultry populations decreased, with only 15 Member States reaching full compliance in 2023 compared to 19 in 2022. Over the past 16 years, Salmonella target serovars rates in European Union poultry (breeding Gallus gallus, laying hens and broilers) have decreased significantly. This situation has remained stable over the past 5 years.
• Member States found the highest proportions of Salmonella spp.-positive samples and Campylobacter spp.-positive samples exceeding the process hygiene limit of 1,000 CFU/g during official inspection samplings at slaughterhouses, compared to food business operator samples.
• In 2023, the highest rate and number of confirmed invasive human cases of Listeria monocytogenes were reported since 2007. The number of listeriosis infections increased significantly between 2019 and 2023. Statistics on positive samples for L. monocytogenes indicated that the proportion of samples of ready-to-eat foods exceeding the food safety limit of 100 CFU/g was either zero or below 1% across all ‘ready-to-eat' food categories. The highest proportion, 0.78 %, was reported for the category Products of meat origin, fermented sausages.
• Listeriosis and West Nile virus human infections (non-outbreak related) had the highest rates of reported hospitalisations and deaths in 2023. Specifically, for listeriosis, 96.5% of reported cases resulted in hospitalisation, with a mortality rate of 19.7%. For West Nile virus, 78.1% of reported cases led to hospitalisation, with a mortality rate of 11.2%.
• In 2023, there were 751 confirmed and probable cases (0.17 cases per 100,000 people) of human West Nile virus infections, a decrease of 37.2% in notification rate of locally acquired cases compared to 2022, when this virus had an unusually high occurrence.

What were the limitations/uncertainties?

• The main uncertainty concerned the comparability of some data (e.g. foodborne outbreaks, official control samples verifying the implementation of food safety criteria by Food Business Operators, etc.) from different Member States.
• When the data were not comparable between Member States, extreme caution was used when interpreting results at EU level.

Reference

EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) 2023. Monitoring of foodborne diseases. https://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/topics/topic/monitoring-foodborne-diseases

The European Union One Health 2023 Zoonoses Report.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2024.9106