Research Publications (Food Safety)

Abstract This report by the European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control presents the results of the zoonoses monitoring and surveillance activities carried out in 2022 in 27 Member States (MSs), the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) and 11 non‐MSs. Key statistics on zoonoses and zoonotic agents in humans, food, animals and feed are provided and interpreted historically.

Vegetables, especially those eaten raw, have been implicated in several foodborne disease outbreaks. Since multiple vegetable matrices and hazards are involved, risk managers have to prioritize those with the greatest impact on public health to design control strategies. In this study, a scientific-based risk ranking of foodborne pathogens transmitted by leafy green vegetables in Argentina was performed.

Background The National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS) captures data on foodborne, waterborne, and enteric illness outbreaks in the United States. This study describes enteric illness outbreaks reported during 11 years of surveillance. Methods We extracted finalized reports from NORS for outbreaks occurring during 2009–2019.

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

Foodborne diseases affect an estimated 600 million people worldwide annually, with the majority of these illnesses caused by Norovirus, Vibrio, Listeria, Campylobacter, Salmonella, and Escherichia coli. To elicit infections in humans, bacterial pathogens express a combination of virulence factors and toxins.

Introduction. The identification of enteropathogens is critical for the clinical management of patients with suspected gastrointestinal infection. The FLOW multiplex PCR system (FMPS) is a semi-automated platform (FLOW System, Roche) for multiplex real-time PCR analysis.

by Nikola Ondrikova, Helen E. Clough, Amy Douglas, Miren Iturriza-Gomara, Lesley Larkin, Roberto Vivancos, John P. Harris, Nigel A. Cunliffe

Background

Background Diarrheal pathogens have been associated with linear growth deficits. The effect of diarrheal pathogens on growth is likely due to inflammation, which also adversely affects neurodevelopment. We hypothesized that diarrheagenic pathogens would be negatively associated with both growth and neurodevelopment.

Author(s): Trond Møretrø, Christophe Nguyen-The, Pierrine Didier, Isabelle Maître, Tekla Izsó, Gyula Kasza, Silje E. Skuland, Maria João Cardoso, Vania B. Ferreira, Paula Teixeira, Daniela Borda, Loredana Dumitrascu, Corina Neagu, Anca Ioana Nicolau, Eduard Anfruns-Estrada, Mike Foden, Phil Voysey, Solveig Langsrud

In Japan, strategies for ensuring food safety have been developed without reliable scientific evidence on the relation between foodborne infections and foods. The aim of this research was to provide information on the proportions of foodborne diseases caused by seven major causative pathogens ( Campylobacte r spp., Salmonella spp., EHEC, V. parahaemolyticus , Clostridium perfringens , Staphylococcus aureus , and Norovirus) attributable to foods using analysis of outbreak surveillance data.

Background Campylobacter infection is associated with impaired growth of children, even in the absence of symptoms. To examine the underlying mechanisms, we evaluated associations between Campylobacter infection, linear growth, and fecal microbial community features in a prospective birth cohort of 271 children with a high burden of diarrhea and stunting in the Amazonian lowlands of Peru.

Clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile infection (CDI) is the most common causative pathogen of health care-associated gastrointestinal infections; however, due to the overlap of clinical symptoms with those of other causes of acute gastroenteritis, the selection of the most appropriate laboratory test is difficult. From April to October 2018, 640 stool samples requested for CDI testing were examined using the mariPOC CDI and Gastro test (ArcDia), which allows the detection of C.

Publication date: Available online 23 July 2019

Source: Microbial Risk Analysis

Author(s): Ursula Gonzales-Barron, Anne Thébault, Pauline Kooh, Laurence Watier, Moez Sanaa, Vasco Cadavez

Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) is a major cause of diarrhea in children from developing countries and presents high genetic variability. We aimed to characterize the EPEC virulence-related gene (VRG) distribution and copathogens associated with diarrhea and nutrition-related outcomes in children from the low-income Brazilian semiarid region. A cross-sectional case-control study of diarrhea was conducted in 1,191 children aged 2 to 36 months from the northeast region of Brazil.

Publication date: Available online 1 February 2018

Source: Microbial Risk Analysis

Author(s): Mary E. Schoen, Michael A. Jahne, Jay Garland

Publication date: Available online 2 May 2018


Author(s): Adriana Calderaro, Monica Martinelli, Mirko Buttrini, Sara Montecchini, Silvia Covan, Sabina Rossi, Francesca Ferraglia, Paolo Montagna, Federica Pinardi, Sandra Larini, Maria Cristina Arcangeletti, Maria Cristina Medici, Carlo Chezzi, Flora De Conto

We aimed to detect the etiological agents of acute diarrhea by a molecular gastrointestinal pathogen test (MGPT) and to assess the impact of MGPT on antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASP). This is a prospective observational study and was conducted between 1 January 2015 and 30 June 2017. We included consequent patients who had acute diarrhea. At the end of 2015, we implemented ASP in acute diarrhea cases and compared the outcomes in the pre-ASP and post-ASP periods.

Izaskun Alejo-Cancho, Francesc Fernández Avilés, Alicia Capón, Cristina Rodríguez, Josep Barrachina, Pilar Salvador, Mª Eugenia Valls, Miriam J. Álvarez-Martínez, Yuliya Zboromyrska, Jordi Vila, Mª Ángeles Marcos

Introduction

Abstract

Publication date: Available online 2 March 2017
Source:Microbial Risk Analysis

Author(s): Mary E. Schoen, Nicholas J. Ashbolt, Michael A. Jahne, Jay Garland

Publication date: Available online 9 November 2016
Source:Microbial Risk Analysis

Author(s): Michael A. Jahne, Mary E. Schoen, Jay L. Garland, Nicholas J. Ashbolt

Publication date: December 2016
Source:Microbial Risk Analysis, Volume 4

Author(s): Samuel Fuhrimann, Mirko S. Winkler, Michelle Stalder, Charles B. Niwagaba, Mohammed Babu, Narcis B. Kabatereine, Abdullah A. Halage, Jürg Utzinger, Guéladio Cissé, Maarten Nauta

Diarrheal disease is a complex syndrome that remains a leading cause of global childhood morbidity and mortality. The diagnosis of enteric pathogens in a timely and precise manner is important for making treatment decisions and informing public health policy, but accurate diagnosis is a major challenge in industrializing countries. Multiplex molecular diagnostic techniques may represent a significant improvement over classical approaches.

Publication date: Available online 3 September 2015

Author(s): Chen Zhang, Peihua Niu, Yanying Hong, Ji Wang, Jingyun Zhang, Xuejun Ma

Street vended foods are the vehicle of pathogens transmission resulting in foodborne diseases. The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual public health risks framework of consuming road vended foods based on detailed review of existing literature in developing countries.