Brussels, 19/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - Listeriosis, which can be contracted by eating contaminated food or coming into contact with infected animals, has continued to spread in the EU, killing 198 people in 2012, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) announced on Wednesday 19 February.
The member states notified 1,642 cases of listeriosis in 2012, which is 10.5% up on the previous year, confirming the upward trend which began in 2008. Spain, the Scandinavian countries, France and Germany reported the highest number of cases per head of population, which were detected mainly in ready meals containing meat or fish, such as sliced ham or smoked fish. This disease is one of the most dangerous of all zoonoses (diseases which are spread from animal to humans), with a mortality rate of 17.8%. The elderly, pregnant women and patients with a weakened immune system are the groups most exposed to complications, such as meningitis and septicaemia.
On a more positive note, the EU registered progress in the fight against salmonella, with the number of cases - 91,034 in 2012 - down for the seventh year in a row. According to EFSA, this improvement stems from the “success of the programmes set in place to control Salmonella in poultry flocks”. The number of human cases of campylobacter, which is present in poultry meat in particular, fell slightly, for the first time in five years. This zoonose, which causes diarrhoea, fever and headaches, was the most frequently notified, with 214,268 human infections noted. (LC/transl.fl)