Biological Risks

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) developed a quantitative risk assessment for the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus(es) (HPAIV) in food.

The purpose of this risk assessment was to 1) estimate the exposure and potential human illness from consumption of HPAIV-contaminated poultry, shell eggs, and egg products from the index flock, and 2) examine the effectiveness of mitigation strategies to control HPAIV if detected in the United States.

USDA Report on HPAIV

EFSA conduct a review of the available information on the potential of transmission of the new (2009) nH1N1 human influenza pandemic virus to humans via food (pork and turkey meat and by-products).

Report main conclusions:

Swine are fully susceptible to the nH1N1 virus and may become infected after contact with infected humans, but no contact infections have been reported from swine to humans;

The infection in swine is purely respiratory with no viraemia or virus dissemination to muscles or edible organs;

1. Low virus quantity contamination of food, including pork or pork products could be introduced by respiratory secretions containing nH1N1 virus during slaughter or handling;
2. If ingested with food, the number of viable influenza virus particles will be reduced by acidic pH in the stomach and bile salts in the duodenum;
3. There is no evidence that the human gastro-intestinal tract tissues can serve as a portal of entry or as a target organ for mammalian type A influenza viruses, including nH1N1;
4. As oropharyngeal tissues are known ports of entry for mammalian influenza viruses, food that passes such tissues, if contaminated with nH1N1 virus, could hypothetically transmit an infection to humans; normal cooking procedures inactivate the virus in food;
5. Commercially available disinfectants used for sanitation of food processing equipment rapidly destroy influenza viruses;
6. Overall, food contaminated with nH1N1 influenza viruses does not appear to be a vehicle for infection in humans.

nH1N1 EFSA report

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) publishes in this web page the relevant information concerning H5N1 Avian Influenza.

information

These European Commission websites provides detailed information on avian influenza, the response at EU level, and animal health concerns. You will also find details on public health concerns, as well as a range of useful links and the latest news.

Animal Health
Human Health

The British Department of Environment, Rural Affairs and Food (DEFRA) publishes in its web information relating to farmed, pet or otherwise kept birds, such as, control and biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of introducing Avian Influenza into the birds farms, worker protection advice and risk assessment of the threat posed to the UK of the introduction of the H5N1 virus.

More information

The Dutch Institute for Pubic Health and the Environment (RIVM) has developed a risk profile of the virus that can be transmitted to humans through food, for what you have collected all available information on three types of food virus :

• Hepatitis A in seafood
• Norovirus in fruits and vegetables
• Hepatitis E in pigs

Risk profile

Fresh produce such as fruit and vegetables are treated during production to decrease the numbers of harmful microorganisms. This will extend the produce’s shelf life and will reduce the numbers of pathogenic microorganisms on the food. These treatments are especially effective for the inactivation of bacteria, thereby reducing the risk of consumers becoming ill. However, viruses are not efficiently inactivated when treatment is performed with the doses currently used in the food industry. Higher doses may be more effective but adversely affect the quality, color and texture of the product. This has emerged from a literature review conducted by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) on the effectiveness of disinfection processes for viruses in the food industry. The study was commissioned by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA).

One of the possible treatments is the washing of produce in water containing disinfectants, such as chlorine compounds, hydrogen peroxide or ozone. Other treatments that are applied on a small scale, such as treatment by UV or gamma rays or high-pressure processing, have the advantage that they not only affect the surface of produce but penetrate the produce to inactivate pathogens sheltered in e.g. crevices or seed pockets. However, they are most effective at doses that induce undesirable structural changes and deteriorate food quality.

A promising solution is a combination of treatments (‘hurdle technology’). This enables each treatment to be applied at low intensity, thus preserving the freshness and structure of produce but giving it a longer shelf life. The selection of hurdles needs to be made carefully to obtain effective virus inactivation while preserving the quality of the fresh produce.

Report

Data published in recent years show clearly that norovirus occur on deep-frozen berries and that they can cause outbreaks of illness. Laboratory detection of norovirus in the batch of deep-frozen strawberries that caused the outbreak in autumn 2012 has now also confirmed this insight for Germany.

Berries can come into contact with norovirus at different points of their production, for example through improper irrigation or fertilisation. In addition, persons infected with norovirus can spread the virus to the berries during the harvest or packaging. In the case of deep-frozen berries, norovirus also comes into contact with the berries through contaminated water which is added as part of the freezing process.

Noroviruses cause acute diarrhoea with vomiting in humans of all age groups, with the illness leading to a considerable loss of fluids. For babies and young children as well as old and ill persons, the illness can be severe and end in death in some cases.

According to the current state of knowledge, it is to be assumed that a high risk of infection is posed not only by raw but also by briefly or unevenly heated dishes made from deep-frozen berries, if they are contaminated with norovirus. However, heating to a core temperature of over 90 °C seems sufficient to completely inactivate any viruses that may be present.

BFR

In order to assess the potential impact of this epizootic on public health, both RKI and RIVM have completed the 2 epidemiological studies, summarized in this ECDC report.

EFSA’s Panel on Biological Hazards (BIOHAZ Panel) concludes in its risk assessment that the most effective public health measures to protect consumers from exposure to norovirus in oysters are to produce oysters in areas which are not contaminated or to prevent contamination of mollusc production areas.

More information

This review summarized the biology, epidemiology, diagnosis and public health importance of foodborne viruses. Data needs to support a risk assessment were also identified. In addition possible control options and their anticipated impact to prevent or reduce the number of foodborne viral human infections were identified, including the scientific reasons for and against the establishment of food safety criteria and process hygiene criteria for viruses for certain food categories.

EFSA review on Enteric Viruses

The NZFSA have commissioned this Risk Profile in order to re-evaluate the risk in the light of recently published information collected from multi-site shellfish quality surveys in New Zealand.

Risk Profile

The notifications of cases of disease caused by noroviruses and rotaviruses have steadily increased in recent years. At the first nationwide symposium in Germany "Foodborne Viruses" staged by the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) in Berlin around 100 experts from research institutes, test agencies and food control discussed the latest findings on foodborne viruses. They looked at transmission pathways, the development of new detection methods and ways of inactivating viruses in food.

More information

The present study was set up as an extensive literature review aimed at evaluating biological hazards associated with FoNAO (Food-borne diseases caused by food of non-animal origin) with high water content.

Data were extracted from 432 publications to identify the most critical FoNAO/pathogen combinations. The number and severity of outbreaks of disease provided the basis for a primary evaluation, and qualitative criteria relating to pathogen prevalence, food/pathogen interaction, and the production of FoNAO items were used for defining three priority groups:

Priority group 1: leafy green vegetables (in particular lettuce and spinach) in combination with pathogenic E. coli. Salmonella spp. on/in leafy greens and on/in tomatoes, respectively, were also given priority one for EU and non-EU countries, respectively. In the EU, berries (in particular frozen strawberries) linked to Norovirus were also attributed level 1 priority. In non-EU countries, the level 1 priority group included also melon (cantaloupe) with Salmonella and tropical fruit (mango and papaya) with Salmonella.

Priority group 2: for EU countries comprised the combinations lettuce/Norovirus and fresh herbs (basil)/Salmonella spp., while semidried tomatoes combined with Hepatitis A virus, grated carrots combined with Yersinia pseudotuberculosis. For non-EU countries, priority group 2 included lettuce/Norovirus, spinach/pathogenic E.coli and cantaloupe melon/Listeria monocytogenes.

Priority group 3: For Eu countries, cucumber in combination with parasites. Hepatitis A virus both in unpasteurized orange juice and on/in green onion for non-EU-countries.

The study provides a broad scientific database that will be instrumental in the conceptualisation of specific measures for improving the safety of FoNAO. Ultimately, it may contribute to the prevention and a better control of food borne diseases.

Microbiological hazards linked to food of non-animal origin

Report

Food of non-animal origin (FoNAO) is consumed in a variety of forms, and a major component of almost all meals. These food types have the potential to be associated with large outbreaks as seen in 2011 associated with VTEC O104. A comparison of the incidence of human cases linked to consumption of FoNAO and of food of animal origin (FoAO) was carried out to provide an indication of the proportionality between these two groups of foods.

Part 1 Outbreak data analysis and risk ranking of food/pathogen combinations

EFSA has published a fact sheet explaining that zoonoses are infections or diseases that can be transmitted directly or indirectly between animals and humans, for instance by consuming contaminated foodstuffs or through contact with infected animals.

Food-borne zoonotic diseases are caused by consuming food or drinking water contaminated by pathogenic (disease-causing) micro-organisms such as bacteria and their toxins, viruses and parasites.

The most common micro-organisms in the European Union (EU) causing foodborne diseases are Campylobacter,Salmonella and viruses such as hepatitis A and norovirus. Many of these micro-organisms are commonly found in the intestines of healthy food-producing animals.

The risks of contamination are present from farm to fork and require prevention and control throughout the food chain. Safe handling of raw meat and other raw food ingredients, thorough cooking and good kitchen hygiene can prevent or reduce the risk posed by these micro-organisms.

EFSA’s work includes annual monitoring, analysis of risk factors, risk assessments and recommendations and advice on reduction measures. Also, it includes the work fighting Salmonella and in antimicrobial resistance.

EFSA fact sheet on food-borne zoonotic diseases

The Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food (ACMSF), who provides advice to the Food Standards Agency (FSA) on a range of issues relating to the microbiological safety of food, has presented its 2011 Annual Report.

ACMSF 2011 Annual Report

Article

The results from the analysis of food samples collected from Scottish businesses in 2011 have shown a slight increase in the levels of satisfactory samples in comparison with the previous year.

During 2011, almost 9,200 food samples were collected from Scottish businesses and analysed by the Public Analyst Laboratories in Scotland. More than 5,000 samples were examined microbiologically and a further 4,188 underwent chemical analysis, including tests for contaminants, additives and labelling inaccuracies.

As in previous years, the results of sampling in 2011 show that there were very few issues relating to foodborne pathogens (illness causing organisms). The majority of failures in microbiological testing (83%) were due to the elevated levels of hygiene indicators (bacteria that can be used as indicators of general hygiene practices in food premises) and total bacterial counts (total number of bacteria on a food sample). These are not inherently a hazard but can indicate poor hygiene practices during food preparation and handling. Chemical failures were largely because of labelling issues (88%), rather than due to the presence of harmful substances or inappropriate use of food additives.

It provides reassurance to consumers that the majority of samples collected in Scotland comply with food safety and standards legislation and that appropriate mechanisms are in place to identify and respond to unsatisfactory results.

Scottish food surveillance report 2011

This report identifies the relationships between meteorological and climate variables and six food- and waterborne pathogens.

ECDC Report on Climate Change and Foodborne diseases

The European Food Safety Authority and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control analysed the information on the occurrence of zoonoses and food-borne outbreaks in 2010 submitted by 27 European Union Member States.

Article

This edition of the Annual Epidemiological Report, presents the surveillance data reported to ECDC for 2009.

ECDC Annual Epidemilogical Report 2009

Epidemiologic data on food transmitted illnesses in Spain during 2010.

CNE Report 2010

Epidemiologic data on Foodborne illnesses in Gipuzkoa (Basque Country) during 2010.

Epidemiology Report Gipuzkoa 2010

This report summarized the data on food-borne and zoonoses over 2009. Conclusions:

• The number of salmonellosis cases in humans decreased by 17.4 %, compared to 2008, and the statistically significant decreasing trend in the European Union continued for the fifth consecutive year.
• The notification rate of campylobacteriosis in the European Union increased slightly in 2009 compared to 2008, and campylobacteriosis continued to be the most commonly reported zoonosis in the European Union with 198,252 confirmed human cases.
• The number of listeriosis cases in humans increased by 19.1 % compared to 2008, with 1,645 confirmed cases recorded in 2009.

EFSA Report 2009

The fourth edition of the Annual Epidemiological Report on Communicable Diseases in Europe provides a comprehensive summary of surveillance data for 2008. The data presented show that EU citizens, in general, enjoy a high level of protection against infectious diseases. For some diseases further joint actions (e.g. through vaccination and similar control measures) could lead to the EU, and eventually Europe, being declared ‘free’ of the disease, as is the case for several vaccine preventable diseases.

Report

This report presents the analysis of data reported for 2008 by the 27 EU Member States and three EEA/EFTA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The main aim of this report is to provide some indication, based on the available data, of where the main burden of communicable diseases now lies in the European Union. In these areas, more concerted action is required in order to decrease the present and potential future burden on society, on public health and healthcare systems, and to reduce human suffering.

ECDC report 2010

The Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) has completed studies on the microbial load of sprouts and ready-to-eat salads mixtures. In 2009, 59 samples of fresh, packaged sprouts and shoots from retail shops were analysed. The results showed that the number of bacteria in packaged sprouts increase considerably within a few days and are an above average microbial load when they reach the best before date. In 2008 BfR analysed ready-to-eat salads mixtures from retail shops with regard to Listeria bacteria. Out of 133 salad mixtures, 5% of samples contained the disease-causing bacteria Listeria monocytogenes, especially mixed salads that contained white cabbage.

The factors which can promote the growth of bacteria Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli or viruses such as norovirus or hepatitis A virus in sprouts and salads, are the cut of lettuce and cabbage leaves, the humidity inside plastic packaging, the lack of hygiene during processing such as contaminated washing water or a lack of refrigeration, among others.

However, BfR concludes that the incidence of human illness brought on by the consumption of vegetables contaminated with bacteria is relatively low compared with the number of foodborne infections that result from the consumption of foods of animal origin especially poultry and pork. BfR recommends that consumers wash sprouts and packaged salads thoroughly before consumption in order to reduce the microbial load.

Report on microbial in sprouts and ready-to-eat salad mixtures

Compilation on the microbiological standards for foodstuffs Public Health Division of Bizkaia, Basque Government has issued an update dated 2010, March on the national microbiological criteria and physico-chemical parameters that the foodstuffs should fulfill.

According to the principles established on the 2073/2005 Regulation, modified by the 1441/2007 Regulation, the Royal Decree 135/2010, dated 2010, February has abolished several legislation standards related to the national microbiological criteria applied the 80s and part of the 90s. Due to that fact, the Basque Government has forseen the need to compile the legislation and recommendations in force in the field of Food Safety and Hygiene.

Foodstuffs microbiological standards

EFSA New
Report

The CONTAM Panel decided to establish an acute reference dose (ARfD) using the lowest-observed-adverse-effect-level (LOAEL) for oral toxicity (gavage) in mice of 200 µg/kg b.w. as the reference point. In order for a 60 kg adult to avoid exceeding the ARfD of 0.2 µg/kg b.w., a 400 g portion of shellfish meat should not contain more than 12 µg of the sum of PlTX and ostreocin-D, corresponding to 30 µg/kg shellfish meat.

Opinion

The BIOHAZ Panel concluded that the risk of TSE transmission associated with semen and embryos collected from Classical Scrapie incubating sheep and goats ranges from negligible to low. However, data are insufficient to conclude that such a risk is negligible. Because of the similarities between Classical scrapie and BSE pathogenesis in small ruminants, these conclusions are also to be considered valid for BSE.

Furthermore, it was highlighted that there is an inherent but unquantifiable risk of iatrogenic TSE transmission that is associated with artificial insemination and embryo transfer procedures (use of animal-derived hormones and surgical devices)

EFSA opinion

During 2007-2010, 13 545 confirmed human VTEC infections and 777 haemolytic uraemic syndrome (HUS) cases were reported in the EU; isolates from 85 % of cases were not fully serotyped and therefore could not be classified using the Karmali seropathotype concept.

Seropathotype group D covered 5 % of isolates from fully serotyped cases; 14 cases (0.7 %) belonged to seropathotype group E, defined by Karmali et al. (2003) as non-human only. Isolates from around 27 % of cases could not be assigned. There were no HUS cases reported for the serotypes in groups D and E but 17 HUS cases could not be assigned. The health outcome was reported for only a fraction of confirmed cases. About 64 % of patients presented with only diarrhoea; VTEC infection resulted in HUS in around 10 % of cases. The new ISO/TS 13136:2012 standard improves the detection of VTEC in food. An alternative concept based on the detection of verocytotoxins alone or genes encoding such verocytotoxins does not provide a sound scientific basis on which to assess risk to the consumer.

EFSA VTEC

The Food Standards Agency has produced this Q&A to reflect comments and requests for clarification we have received since issuing guidance on controlling the risk of cross-contamination with E. coli O157 in February 2011. General hygiene guidance already exists and is outside the scope of this Q&A.

Q&A

This risk profile provides current scientific information relevant to this issue, i.e. whether certain enterohemorrhagic Shiga toxin producing serotypes of E. coli, including non-O157 serotypes, can be considered as adulterants, analogous to E. coli O157, within the meaning of the FMIA.

Report

The BIOHAZ Panel has issued a scientific Opinion on the public health risk of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) and other pathogenic bacteria that may contaminate seeds and sprouted seeds.

EFSA opinion on STEC in sprouted seeds

Draft Risk Profile for Pathogenic non-O157 Shiga Toxin producing Escherichia coli (non-O157 STEC)

More information

Spanish government´s statement on E. coli outbreak.

More info
EFSA/ECDC joint advice

Según el presente informe la cepa causante del brote alemán, presenta similitudes con las VTEC (E. coli Verotoxigénica, también conocida como STEC) así como con las EAEC (E.coli Enteroagregativa). Las VTEC suelen tener como reservorio a animales, mientras que las EAEC, tienen a los humanos como principal reservorio. Este tipo de E. coli, es conocida hace tiempo, por lo que esta cepa no puede calificarse de “nueva”, sin embargo, es cierto que hasta la fecha no se han descrito casos tan virulentos como el ocurrido en Alemania.

Por otro lado, se observa una cada vez mayor relación entre la VTEC y los brotes relacionados con el consumo de vegetales, especialmente con hortalizas de hoja verde y brotes germinados para ensaladas. También habrá que recordar, que los brotes de enfermedades, pueden tener una o varias vías de exposición. La contaminación de vegetales por la VTEC, suele ser rara, pudiendo tener como origen el agua de regadío contaminada o el acceso fortuito de animales a zonas destinadas a la producción agrícola.

La contaminación de los vegetales puede ocurrir durante su producción, recolección, manipulado, distribución, venta y preparación, ya sea en el ámbito domestico o catering.

Las medidas para la reducción del peligro de esta bacteria, pasa por la asunción de Buenas Prácticas Agrícolas (BPAs), Buenas Prácticas de Fabricación (BPF)y el APPCC.

Informe VTEC -caso Alemán-