Sources and trends of human salmonellosis in Europe, 2015–2019
Using European outbreak data for recent years (2015–2019), a new study estimates the relative contributions of different food sources to human salmonellosis and assesses trends in the occurrence and characteristics of human salmonellosis outbreaks over time, by European region, and most common Salmonella serotypes.
Overall, the most important food source of salmonellosis outbreaks was eggs (33 %), followed by pork (7 %), and (general) meat products (6 %). While eggs were the most important food source in all regions, pork was the second most common food source in Northern and Western Europe, and (general) meat products in Eastern and Southern Europe. Outbreaks caused by S. Enteritidis (SE) and other known serotypes (other than SE and S. Typhimurium and its monophasic variant [STM]) were mostly attributed to eggs, whereas outbreaks caused by STM were mainly attributed to pork. Overall, there was a significant increase in the number of outbreaks reported between 2015 and 2019, by 5 % on average per year.
