Norovirus outbreak 2012
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The norovirus outbreak in 2012 was the largest food-borne disease outbreak in Germany to date . There were almost 11,000 cases of vomiting with diarrhea in the federal states of Berlin , Brandenburg , Saxony , Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia . Mainly children and adolescents who were cared for by communal catering were affected . Norwalk virus were identified as pathogens and frozen - strawberries be traced.
initial situation
As a result of lobbying work by the Federal Association of the Fruit, Vegetable and Potato Processing Industry , an anti-dumping duty was abolished on April 18, 2007 , which previously slowed imports of frozen strawberries from the main supplier countries China and Morocco into the EU . At the time of the epidemic, China was the second largest supplier of frozen strawberries after Germany with 31,200 tons worth almost 33 million euros. The price per kilo was 30 cents lower in 2011 compared to the main importing country, Poland, whose exports to Germany subsequently fell by 17%. Overall, the share of food imports from China to Germany was 1.4 billion euros in 2011. From 2005 to 2010, the global turnover of Chinese food exports almost doubled to 41 billion dollars. In the year of the epidemic, China was already disproportionately represented with other products in the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed .
Epidemiology
A total of 390 facilities in eastern Germany were affected. 10,950 cases were registered, 38 of which had to be treated in hospital. In the stool samples sent in from the sick, the various genotypes Human Norovirus I and II were detected individually and sometimes as a mixture. One explanation for the variety of pathogen types is faecal contamination in the irrigation of strawberries in China, the country of origin. Such a large-scale contamination by individual harvest workers, on the other hand, appears unlikely. In addition, recombinant genotypes II.16 / II.13 were detected that had not previously occurred in Germany. The consumer protection authority of Saxony-Anhalt and the national reference laboratories therefore come to the conclusion that the manufacturer in China used untreated human wastewater for fertilization .
Individual canteens were not affected, despite the contaminated raw materials, as the strawberries were heated during preparation. The outbreak was quickly contained thanks to the reconnaissance within a week. Much of the batch had not yet been processed and consumed. Despite the rapidly disappearing course of the disease , the massive infection disrupted the daily routine of numerous affected families and institutions and thus led to the intervention of the food inspection .
enlightenment
To clarify the responsible food, epidemiological case-control studies were carried out by the Robert Koch Institute . It was possible to establish a connection between the consumption of food made from frozen strawberries in one production unit and illnesses caused by vomiting and diarrhea. The supplier then carried out a recall and blocked further stocks. On October 8, 2012, the outbreak was declared over after the affected food was no longer on the market and no new diseases occurred. The peak of illness could be narrowed down to September 25 and 27, 2012. In addition, the State Office for Consumer Protection Saxony-Anhalt succeeded in detecting noroviruses from a confiscated sample of the suspicious batch of frozen strawberries.
In addition to laboratory tests, goods flow analyzes were also used by the authorities. For this purpose, a crisis team was convened at the Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety consisting of experts from the federal states and the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment . The company concerned passed on all data from the supply chain to the authorities. A total of 44 tonnes were imported via the port of Hamburg . The blockage prevented the delivery of 30.7 tons of contaminated goods to five other federal states.
consequences
Since the strawberries were disinfected with sodium hypochlorite , classic indicators of faecal contamination such as coliform bacteria and E. coli did not reveal the actual hygiene status . The European Union then implemented an import control with an obligation to test for norovirus in frozen strawberries from China with a control frequency of 5%. Private contract laboratories also increasingly offered norovirus tests in the field of food analysis .
After further notifications of norovirus detection from Chinese strawberries in the European Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed were discontinued, an audit was carried out in China by the European Food and Veterinary Office . Major weaknesses in the HACCP system of Chinese producers were found, as none of the producers had considered the norovirus hygiene problem. To make matters worse, the low sensitivity of downstream laboratory analyzes combined with the very high infectivity of the virus particles do not offer a satisfactory guarantee for safe food . The massive illness led to political demands to rely more on seasonal products and regional suppliers despite higher prices.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Helen Bernard, Mirko Faber, Hendrik Wilking, S. Haller, Michael Höhle, Anika Schielke, Tanja Ducomble, C. Siffczyk, SS Merbecks, G. Fricke, Osamah Hamouda, Klaus Stark, Dirk Werber: Large multistate outbreak of norovirus gastroenteritis associated with frozen strawberries, Germany, 2012 . In: EuroSurveillance . ECDC , 2014, urn : nbn: de: 0257-10035717 (English, eurosurveillance.org ).
- ↑ a b c European Commission, Health and Consumers Directorate: Final report of an audit carried out in China from 21 to 28 October 2013 in order to assess the control systems in place to control microbiological contamination in soft fruit intended for export to the European Union . (PDF; 245 kB)
- ↑ Federal Institute for Risk Assessment : Norovirus outbreak 2012 .
- ↑ Annual report 2006/2007 of the Federal Association of the Fruit, Vegetable and Potato Processing Industry. V.
- ↑ Contaminated school meals: China rejects report on contaminated strawberries. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. October 8, 2012, accessed April 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Nutrition: Made from China. In: Spiegel Online. October 15, 2012, accessed April 2, 2017 .
- ↑ Major gastroenteritis outbreak caused by a batch of frozen strawberries contaminated with noroviruses in childcare facilities and schools in eastern Germany . In: Epidemiological Bulletin 41/2012.
- ↑ Dietrich Mäde, Katja Trübner, Eckehard Neubert, Marina Höhne, Reimar Johne: Detection and Typing of Norovirus from Frozen Strawberries Involved in a Large-Scale Gastroenteritis Outbreak in Germany. In: Food and Environmental Virology. 5, 2013, p. 162, doi : 10.1007 / s12560-013-9118-0 .
- ↑ A batch of frozen strawberries is very likely the cause of the large outbreak of acute diarrhea diarrhea in children and adolescents in the eastern federal states . Joint press release by the RKI , BVL and BfR , October 5, 2012.
- ↑ Outbreak of acute diarrhea in children and adolescents ended and cleared up . Joint press release by the RKI , BVL and BfR , October 8, 2012.
- ↑ Federal Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety : Activity report of the “Food and feed safety” task force in the food-related clarification of the gastroenteritis outbreak . October 18, 2012.
- ↑ Implementing Regulation (EU) No. 1235/2012 of the Commission of December 19, 2012 amending Annex I of Regulation (EC) No. 669/2009 implementing Regulation (EC) No. 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council with a view to increasing official controls on imports of certain feed and food of non-animal origin .
- ↑ LADR informs: Noroviruses on food November 2012 (PDF; 557 kB).
- ↑ Deutscher Ärzteverlag GmbH, editorial office of the Deutsches Ärzteblatt: Noroviruses detected in frozen strawberries. October 8, 2012, accessed April 2, 2017 .