A quarterly update on food- and waterborne diseases in Europe - summary of data for the third quarter of 2007

Abstract

E U ROSU R V E I L L A N C E Vol . 13 · I ssu es 1-3 · J an -Ma r 20 08 · w w w. e urosurve illance. o rg 1 S u r v e i ll a n c e a n d o u t b r e a k r e p o r t s This paper highlights findings from the first quarterly report on food-and waterborne diseases produced by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC). In the past such reports had been generated by Enter-net, a Europe-based international surveillance network for the enteric infections. The quarterly reports are an important surveillance tool for the network participants and other public health professionals to use in order to identify emerging trends and changes taking place in a shorter interval than one year.

A Study of 279 General Outbreaks of Gastrointestinal Infection in the North-East Region of England

“…In the UK surveillance is largely based on laboratory confirmed cases where isolates have been sent to the reference laboratory for further typing and clusters have been identified. Surveillance of Salmonella and Verocytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 infections based on laboratory isolates is now established (Enter-net) and this facilitates the investigation of international outbreaks caused by these pathogens [ 3 ].…”