Campylobacter foodborne outbreaks increased, says report

The annual report’s working group was led by Public Health England but it was published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Campylobacter continues to be the most commonly reported human gastrointestinal pathogen. After a general upward trend over the past 10 years, the number of laboratory reports fell across the UK during 2013. There were 66,575 reports, a decrease of 8% from 2012.

Although reports fell by 9% and 3% in England and Wales and in Scotland, they increased by 12% in Northern Ireland.

There were 19 foodborne outbreaks of campylobacteriosis in 2013, which is a significant increase on the eight in 2012. Fourteen outbreaks were associated with eating poultry, of which nine were chicken liver parfait.

One outbreak was associated with red meat and another with milk and dairy products. The implicating food vehicle for three is unknown.

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is leading a campaign to tackle the pathogen.

Salmonella outbreaks down​

In 2013, 8,459 cases of laboratory confirmed salmonellosis were reported.

Twelve foodborne outbreaks of Salmonella in the UK in 2013 compared with 14 in 2012, and of these five were caused by S. Typhimurium, two by S. Enteritidis and five by other Salmonella species.

The most common food type associated with Salmonella outbreaks in 2013 was red meat.

The Epidemiology of Foodborne Infections Group and the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Food bring together UK surveillance data on humans, animals and food to consider foodborne risks.

VTEC and Listeria ​

There were 1,017 laboratory confirmed cases of VTEC O157 in humans in the UK in 2013 (765 in England, 28 in Wales, 167 in Scotland and 57 in Northern Ireland), an 16% decrease on the 1,217 cases reported in 2012.

Eight outbreaks of VTEC in England affected 54 cases and included four foodborne.

Two linked to watercress with affected cases in England, Wales and Scotland, one with meat from Scotland and the other had an unknown food vehicle category.

Consumption of foods contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes is the main route of transmission to humans, said the report.

A total of 178 cases were reported in the UK in 2013, a decrease of 2.7% compared with 2012.

There were three outbreaks of listeriosis in UK. Two in England associated with eating crab meat.

A total of seven cases were affected in the two outbreaks (three cases in one and four in the other) and one death was reported in each.

In Scotland there was one outbreak with three confirmed cases in which sandwiches were the suspected vehicle. 

Ten cases of trichinellosis were diagnosed in the UK between 2000 and 2013, including an outbreak of eight cases in England and Wales in 2000 associated with imported meat products.

The remaining two cases were travel related: one in England and Wales in 2001, and the other in Scotland in 2010 in a person who had eaten partially cooked meat in France. There were no human cases in 2013 in the UK.