Theeed for increased vigilance in surveillance of the potentially fatal food-poisoning bug E-coli 0157 has been underlined by European food safety experts meeting in Dublin.
Nearly 60 scientists, including epidemiologists and bacteriologists, form Enter-net, an EU-unded network which shares information on salmonella and Ecoli in particular.
They met in closed session in Malahide, Co Dublin yesterday, with observers from other countries and the World Health Organisation. The meeting was hosted by the new Food Safety Authority of Ireland.
The group, which is part of an international network formed to improve information on food-poisoning outbreaks, has been called the "disease detectives". Countries with a low incidence of E-coli 0157, such as Ireland, need to be particularly careful because of evidence of a sudden rise in outbreaks, they have warned.
They have also expressed concern about growing "antibiotic abuse and poor husbandry at farm level", which is leading to an increase in the number of cases of food poisoning involving antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria throughout Europe. The problem is most acute with salmonella poisoning and means treatment of seriously ill patients can be impaired - some strains are resistant to seven forms of antibiotic.
Enter-net enables swifter tracking of food-poisoning pathogens, in particular tracing their country of origin, which facilitates quicker withdrawal of contaminated products where appropriate.
"It is clear that Ireland cannot afford to be smug about E-coli 0157," the FSAI's chief executive, Dr Pat Wall, said at a press briefing. "We may have only a handful of cases of this dangerous germ, which can cause kidney failure and death. Scotland, Finland, Sweden and Spain have demonstrated that a country can rapidly go from a handful of cases to several hundred in a few months."
Dr Martin Cormican of the department of bacteriology in NUI Galway said multi-resistant strains of salmonella already existed in Ireland and needed to be closely monitored. His study, presented at the meeting, had shown that 75 per cent of Irish salmonella typhimurium strains were resistant to five antibiotics.
In response to this, antibiotic resistance patterns in the State are to be more extensively evaluated in both animals and humans. More detailed "typing" of different bug strains at laboratory level is also be pursued.
Dr Wall admitted that food-borne disease surveillance was "at an embryonic stage, but we are not the worst in Europe". Initiatives were imminent, while the board of a new National Diseases Surveillance Unit to be based in Dublin had met for the first time this week. It would monitor diseases such as meningitis and TB, as well as food bugs.
Denmark and Sweden had shown how aggressive control of salmonella "in the animal reservoir", particularly pigs and poultry, could be successful in reducing salmonella cases in humans, according to Dr Kare Molbak of Denmark.
