Traductor

01 April 2011

Salmonella cases cut to half thanks to EU meassures

Human salmonellosis cases were reduced almost by half over a five-year period, thanks to measures introduced by the European Union. This encouraging figure emerges from the 2009 EU summary report on zoonoses, published on 22 March by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Human salmonellosis cases were reduced from 196,000 cases in 2004 to 108,000 cases in 2009. This success story dates back to 2003, when the European Parliament and the Council adopted a Regulation (EC 2160/2003) and a Directive (EC 99/2003) which started the implementation of enhanced Salmonella control programmes in all Member States.

Thanks to the measures foreseen by the legislation, targets for reduction of Salmonella in flocks of poultry (laying hens, broilers, turkeys) were set, stricter hygiene standards in slaughterhouses were introduced, control programmes were inaugurated by Member States and restrictions on the trade of products from infected flocks were imposed.

From 2005 onwards, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), in collaboration with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), has been entrusted to prepare a yearly EU summary concerning monitoring of zoonoses. The EU reports are based on annual reports submitted by the Member States and Norway and they contain a valuable overview of the prevalence of zoonoses in the EU.

Health and Consumer Policy Commissioner John Dalli declared: " The EU has made great strides in its battle against Salmonella and the consistent fall in the number of cases is testament to the strong, comprehensive EU measures put in place to tackle this disease. The Commission has at no point stopped monitoring or reacting to the challenge of Salmonella and the current EFSA/ECDC report clearly illustrates the improved situation and positive developments. Rest assured, however, that the fight against zoonotic agents will continue relentlessly always aiming to further reduce their incidence ".


*Further information is available at:
http://ec.europa.eu/food/food/biosafety/salmonella/index_en.htm

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