Campylobacteriosis overtakes salmonellosis in the EU

In 2005, campylobacteriosis overtook salmonellosis as the most reported zoonotic disease in humans in the EU.

The second annual European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) community report on infectious diseases transmissible from animals to humans (zoonotic diseases) reported a 7.8% increase of campylobacter infections in humans compared with the previous year. This translates to an incident rate of 51.6 cases per 100,000 people and 197,363 recorded cases.

On the other hand, salmonella infections fell by 9.5% in 2005 to an incidence rate of 38.2 cases per 100,000 (176,395 reported cases).

Salmonellosis in humans is most likely linked to the presence of salmonella in eggs, poultry and pig meat. A decrease in salmonella contamination in eggs was observed during the last years.

The report also provides data on important resistance rates to antibiotics in campylobacter originating from farm animals and food of animal origin. Some results indicated that over 80% of the tested bacteria were resistant to antibiotics commonly used to treat human diseases. This is a growing area of concern for public health specialists as antimicrobial resistance might compromise effective treatment of these diseases in humans.

In 2005, the reporting of investigated outbreaks caused by consumption of contaminated food was mandatory for the first time in the EU. In total, 5311 food-borne outbreaks were reported in the EU involving 47,251 people and resulting in 5330 hospitalisation and 24 deaths.