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Research Publications (Food Safety)

This page tracks research articles published in national and international peer-reviewed journals. Recent articles are available ahead of print and searchable by Journal, Article Title, and Category. Research publications are tracked across six categories: Bacterial Pathogens, Chemical Contaminants, Natural Toxins, Parasites, Produce Safety, and Viruses. Articles produced by USDA Grant Funding Agencies (requires login) and FDA Grant Funding Agencies (requires login) are also tracked in Scopus.

Displaying 1 - 25 of 33

  1. Multinational collaboration in solving a European Salmonella Braenderup outbreak linked to imported melons, 2021

    • Eurosurveillance
    • A genomic cluster of Braenderup ST22, a serovar of subsp. which causes symptoms of gastrointestinal illness, was notified by Danish authorities to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) on 3 May 2021.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Salmonella
  2. Local Salmonella Enteritidis restaurant outbreak investigation in England provides further evidence for eggs as source in widespread international cluster, March to April 2023

    • Eurosurveillance
    • We report a 5-single nucleotide polymorphism cluster of Salmonella Enteriditis in England, part of a global cluster of S. Enteritidis ST11. Forty-seven confirmed cases have been investigated of whom 25 were linked to a restaurant. In addition, there were 18 probable cases with restaurant exposure. Epidemiological investigations suggested eggs or chicken as the most likely cause of the outbreak but were unable to distinguish between those two food vehicles.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Salmonella
  3. Countrywide multi-serotype outbreak of Salmonella Bovismorbificans ST142 and monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium ST34 associated with dried pork sausages in France, September to January 2021

    • Eurosurveillance
    • The French National Reference Centre for and (FNRC-ESS) detected two human clusters of 33 cases (median age: 10 years; 17 females) infected by serotype Bovismorbificans, ST142, HC5_243255 (EnteroBase HierCC‑cgMLST scheme) in September–November 2020 and of 11 cases (median age: 11 years; seven males) infected by

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Salmonella
      • Shigella
  4. Listeriosis outbreak caused by contaminated stuffed pork, Andalusia, Spain, July to October 2019

    • Eurosurveillance
    • Between 1 July and 26 October 2019 in Andalusia, Spain, a large outbreak with 207 confirmed cases of listeriosis was identified. Confirmed cases had a median age of 44 years (range: 0–94) and 114 were women (55.1%). Most cases (n = 154) had mild gastroenteritis, 141 (68.1%) required hospitalisation and three died; five of 34 pregnant women had a miscarriage.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Listeria monocytogenes
  5. A One Health real-time surveillance system for nowcasting Campylobacter gastrointestinal illness outbreaks, Norway, week 30 2010 to week 11 2022

    • Eurosurveillance
    • Background

      is a leading cause of food and waterborne illness. Monitoring and modelling at chicken broiler farms, combined with weather pattern surveillance, can aid nowcasting of human gastrointestinal (GI) illness outbreaks. Near real-time sharing of data and model results with health authorities can help increase potential outbreak responsiveness.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Campylobacter
  6. Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak associated with frozen tomato cubes at a restaurant in western Finland, January to February 2021

    • Eurosurveillance
    • Several individuals reported gastrointestinal symptoms following meals consumed in late January 2021 at a restaurant in western Finland. We conducted a retrospective cohort study and defined a case as a person who ate at the lunch restaurant between 27 and 29 January 2021 and had stomach pain, vomiting or diarrhoea and/or a laboratory-confirmed Typhimurium infection within 2 weeks after the exposure.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Salmonella
  7. Changing epidemiology of Salmonella Enteritidis human infections in the Netherlands and Belgium, 2006 to 2019: a registry-based population study

    • Eurosurveillance
    • Background

      Salmonellosis remains the second most common zoonosis in the European Union despite a long-term decreasing trend. However, this trend has been reported to have stagnated in recent years, particularly for serotype Enteritidis (SE).

      Aim

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Salmonella
  8. Epidemiological and microbiological investigation of a large increase in vibriosis, northern Europe, 2018

    • Eurosurveillance
    • Background Vibriosis cases in Northern European countries and countries bordering the Baltic Sea increased during heatwaves in 2014 and 2018. Aim We describe the epidemiology of vibriosis and the genetic diversity of spp.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Vibrio
  9. Outbreak of Salmonella Newport linked to imported frozen cooked crayfish in dill brine, Sweden, July to November 2019

    • Eurosurveillance
    • In autumn 2019, the Public Health Agency of Sweden identified a cluster of Newport cases by whole genome sequencing (WGS). Cases’ distribution in place and time indicated a nation-wide ongoing outbreak. An investigation was initiated to identify the source and prevent further cases.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Salmonella
  10. Investigation of an international outbreak of multidrug-resistant monophasic Salmonella Typhimurium associated with chocolate products, EU/EEA and United Kingdom, February to April 2022

    • Eurosurveillance
    • An extensive multi-country outbreak of multidrug-resistant monophasic Typhimurium infection in 10 countries with 150 reported cases, predominantly affecting young children, has been linked to chocolate products produced by a large multinational company. Extensive withdrawals and recalls of multiple product lines have been undertaken.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Salmonella
  11. Surveillance and characteristics of food-borne outbreaks in the Netherlands, 2006 to 2019

    • Eurosurveillance
    • Background A wide variety of pathogens can cause disease in humans via consumption of contaminated food.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Bacillus cereus
      • Campylobacter
      • Salmonella
      • Viruses
      • Norovirus
  12. Burden of salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis and listeriosis: a time series analysis, Belgium, 2012 to 2020

    • Eurosurveillance
    • Salmonellosis, campylobacteriosis and listeriosis are food-borne diseases. We estimated and forecasted the number of cases of these three diseases in Belgium from 2012 to 2020, and calculated the corresponding number of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). The salmonellosis time series was fitted with a Bai and Perron two-breakpoint model, while a dynamic linear model was used for campylobacteriosis and a Poisson autoregressive model for listeriosis.

      • Campylobacter
      • Bacterial pathogens
  13. Reoccurrence of botulinum neurotoxin subtype A3 inducing food-borne botulism, Slovakia, 2015

    • Eurosurveillance
    • A case of food-borne botulism occurred in Slovakia in 2015. Clostridium botulinum type A was isolated from three nearly empty commercial hummus tubes. The product, which was sold in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, was withdrawn from the market and a warning was issued immediately through the European Commission's Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF).

      • Clostridium botulinum
      • Bacterial pathogens
  14. Ongoing haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) outbreak caused by sorbitol-fermenting (SF) Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O157, Germany, December 2016 to May 2017

    • Eurosurveillance
    • We report an ongoing, protracted and geographically dispersed outbreak of haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) and gastroenteritis in Germany, involving 30 cases since December 2016. The outbreak was caused by the sorbitol-fermenting immotile variant of Shiga toxin-producing (STEC) Escherichia coli O157. Molecular typing revealed close relatedness between isolates from 14 cases. One HUS patient died. Results of a case-control study suggest packaged minced meat as the most likely food vehicle.

      • Bacterial pathogens
  15. Multi-laboratory validation study of multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) for Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis, 2015

    • Eurosurveillance
    • Multilocus variable-number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) is a rapid and reproducible typing method that is an important tool for investigation, as well as detection, of national and multinational outbreaks of a range of food-borne pathogens. Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis is the most common Salmonella serovar associated with human salmonellosis in the European Union/European Economic Area and North America.

      • Salmonella
      • Bacterial pathogens
  16. Evaluation of molecular typing of foodborne pathogens in European reference laboratories from 2012 to 2013

    • Eurosurveillance
    • In 2012, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) initiated external quality assessment (EQA) schemes for molecular typing including the National Public Health Reference Laboratories in Europe. The overall aim for these EQA schemes was to enhance the European surveillance of food-borne pathogens by evaluating and improving the quality and comparability of molecular typing. The EQAs were organised by Statens Serum Institut (SSI) and included Salmonella enterica subsp.

      • Listeria monocytogenes
      • Bacterial pathogens
  17. Community-wide outbreaks of haemolytic uraemic syndrome associated with Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli O26 in Italy and Romania: a new challenge for the European Union

    • Eurosurveillance
      • Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli
      • Bacterial pathogens
  18. Outbreak of Salmonella Enteritidis linked to the consumption of frozen beefburgers received from a food bank and originating from Poland: northern France, December 2014 to April 2015

    • Eurosurveillance
    • A prolonged outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Enteritidis occurred in northern France between December 2014 and April 2015. Epidemiological investigations following the initial notification on 30 December 2014 of five cases of salmonellosis (two confirmed S. Enteritidis) in young children residing in the Somme department revealed that all cases frequented the same food bank A.

      • Bacterial pathogens
      • Salmonella
  19. Community-wide outbreak of haemolytic uraemic syndrome associated with Shiga toxin 2-producing Escherichia coli O26:H11 in southern Italy, summer 2013

    • Eurosurveillance
    • In summer 2013, an excess of paediatric cases of haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) in a southern region of Italy prompted the investigation of a community-wide outbreak of Shiga toxin 2-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) O26:H11 infections. Case finding was based on testing patients with HUS or bloody diarrhoea for STEC infection by microbiological and serological methods. A case-control study was conducted to identify the source of the outbreak.

      • Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli
      • Bacterial pathogens
  20. An outbreak of a possibly new Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar with the antigenic formula 11:z41:e,n,z15, Greece, March to May 2016: preliminary results

    • Eurosurveillance
    • Eleven Salmonella spp. isolates with the antigenic type 11:z41:e,n,z15 - not referred to in the 9th edition of the White-Kauffman-Le Minor Scheme - were identified at the National Reference Laboratory for Salmonella in Greece. Their pulsed-field gel electrophoresis profiles were indistinguishable. No apparent epidemiological link has yet been identified; the results of a case-case study are pending.

      • Salmonella
      • Bacterial pathogens
  21. Ongoing outbreak of invasive listeriosis due to serotype 1/2a Listeria monocytogenes, Ancona province, Italy, January 2015 to February 2016

    • Eurosurveillance
    • In the first seven weeks of 2016, five serotype 1/2a Listeria monocytogenes isolates were collected from patients with invasive listeriosis in Ancona province in Italy. These strains and six 1/2a isolates identified in 2015 in the same area were typed by ERIC-PCR and PFGE. A clonal relationship, documented between the two sets of isolates, suggested a listeriosis outbreak in Ancona that started most probably in 2015. Investigation into the source of infection is still ongoing.

      • Listeria monocytogenes
      • Bacterial pathogens
  22. Vibrio cholerae non-O1 bacteraemia: description of three cases in the Netherlands and a literature review

    • Eurosurveillance
    • Vibrio cholerae non-O1 serogroup (VCNO) bacteraemia is a severe condition with a high case-fatality rate. We report three cases diagnosed in the Netherlands, identified during a national microbiological congress, and provide a literature review on VCNO bacteraemia. A search strategy including synonyms for 'VCNO' and 'bacteraemia' was applied to PubMed, Medline, Web of Science and Embase databases.

      • Vibrio
      • Bacterial pathogens
  23. Outbreak of unusual Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium monophasic variant 1,4 [5],12:i:-, Italy, June 2013 to September 2014

    • Eurosurveillance
    • Monophasic variant of Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhimurium (monophasic S. Typhimurium), with antigenic structure 1,4,[5],12:i:-, appears to be of increasing importance in Europe. In Italy, monophasic S. Typhimurium represented the third most frequent Salmonella serovar isolated from human cases between 2004 and 2008. From June 2013 to October 2014, a total of 206 human cases of salmonellosis were identified in Abruzzo region (Central Italy).

      • Salmonella
      • Bacterial pathogens
  24. Presence of mcr-1-positive Enterobacteriaceae in retail chicken meat but not in humans in the Netherlands since 2009

    • Eurosurveillance
    • Recently, the plasmid-mediated colistin resistance gene mcr-1 was found in Enterobacteriaceae from humans, pigs and retail meat in China. Several reports have documented global presence of the gene in Enterobacteriaceae from humans, food animals and food since.

      • Bacterial pathogens
  25. Inverse trends of Campylobacter and Salmonella in Swiss surveillance data, 1988-2013

    • Eurosurveillance
    • Clinical isolates of Campylobacter spp. and Salmonella spp. are notifiable in Switzerland. In 1995, Campylobacter replaced Salmonella as the most frequently reported food-borne pathogen. We analysed notification data (1988-2013) for these two bacterial, gastrointestinal pathogens of public health importance in Switzerland. Notification rates were calculated using data for the average resident population.

      • Campylobacter
      • Salmonella
      • Bacterial pathogens