Experts have shared findings from Cryptosporidium, Listeria, Trichinella, and Salmonella outbreaks at an event in Europe. Among presentations at the European Scientific Conference on Applied Infectious Disease Epidemiology (ESCAIDE) was one about the Danish perspective on two multi-country outbreaks. These included a Salmonella outbreak linked to chicken meat from Poland and Listeria in fish from a Danish producer.
The meeting organized by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) also discussed a July 2023 botulism outbreak linked to potato omelets (tortilla de patata) eaten in Spain. Italy and Norway had two cases of people who had been to Spain. Potential contamination pathways remain unknown.
Large outbreaks of Cryptosporidium linked to lamb contact events in England were highlighted. One incident affected almost 800 people. In recent years, working farms that are ordinarily closed to the public have invited visitors during the lambing season.
They are not subject to the same oversight as farms permanently open to the public. Scientists assessed the public health burden and findings of three large Cryptosporidium parvum outbreaks linked to lambing events on working farms in England in 2023 and 2024. The events offered lamb contact and feeding, receiving 2,400 and more than 8,000 visitors.
Cryptosporidium cases in the three outbreaks were 264, 482, and 775, with microbiological and epidemiological evidence for transmission from lambs. The cases were mai.