Today, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published their latest annual EU One Health zoonoses report, which revealed that campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis remain the most frequently reported zoonotic diseases in humans in the EU. Despite this, the number of cases was still lower than during the pre-pandemic years 2018-2019.
The report also showed an increase in the number of West Nile virus infections in 2022, with 1,133 cases recorded – the second highest number ever recorded in the EU. This was attributed to more favourable climatic conditions for mosquito activity. Moreover, 431 birds and 166 horses tested positive for West Nile virus, and the virus extended its geographical area, reaching previously unaffected areas.
Frank Verdonk, Head of EFSA’s Biological Hazards & Animal Health and Welfare unit, stated: “Climate change is increasing the surge of vector -borne diseases. That’s why today a One Health approach integrating human and animal risk assessments is the way forward.”
The number of reported human cases for the two most common foodborne diseases (campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis) remain at lower levels than before the pandemic. Ole Heuer, Head of Section Epidemic-Prone Diseases at ECDC, commented: “However, given the impact of these infections on human health, further vigilance and efforts to reduce the number of cases is needed.”
The report also examined foodborne outbreaks, which are instances where a minimum of two individuals contract the same illness from consuming the same contaminated food. The number of reported foodborne outbreaks in the EU increased by 44%, from 4,005 in 2021 to 5,763 outbreaks in 2022, reaching similar levels as during the pre-pandemic years and causing the highest number of outbreak-related deaths in the past decade (64).
EFSA is also publishing story maps and dashboards which provide information on Brucella, zoonotic tuberculosis and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli and allow to search and visualise data.
Today, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) published their latest annual EU One Health zoonoses report. The report revealed that campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis remain the most frequently reported zoonotic diseases in humans in the EU, although the number of cases was still lower than during the pre-pandemic years 2018-2019.
An increase in the number of West Nile virus infections was also recorded, with 1,133 cases in 2022 – the second highest number ever seen in the EU. This was attributed to more favourable climatic conditions for mosquito activity. 431 birds and 166 horses tested positive for West Nile virus, and the virus extended its geographical area to previously unaffected areas.
Commenting on the report, Frank Verdonk, Head of EFSA’s Biological Hazards & Animal Health and Welfare unit, said: “Climate change is increasing the surge of vector -borne diseases. That’s why today a One Health approach integrating human and animal risk assessments is the way forward.”
Ole Heuer, Head of Section Epidemic-Prone Diseases at ECDC, added: “The number of reported human cases for the two most common foodborne diseases remain at lower levels than before the pandemic. However, given the impact of these infections on human health, further vigilance and efforts to reduce the number of cases is needed.”
The report also showed that the number of reported foodborne outbreaks in the EU had increased by 44%, from 4,005 in 2021 to 5,763 outbreaks in 2022. This caused the highest number of outbreak-related deaths in the past decade (64).
EFSA is also publishing story maps and dashboards which provide information on Brucella, zoonotic tuberculosis and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli.
