Listeria infections in the EU in 2016

Listeria infections in the EU in 2016 infographic

There was a total of 2 536 reported listeriosis cases in 2016.

  • 1520 confirmed listeriosis cases with known age and outcome
  • 62% of cases were in people 65 or older
  • 19% of cases in people 65 or older were fatal

Listeria monocytogenes in food

  • 4.9% of ready-to-eat fish products were L. monocytogenes positive
  • 2.6% of ready-to-eat meat products were L. monocytogenes positive
  • 0.7% of cheese were L. monocytogenes positive

Source: European Union summary report on trends and sources of zoonoses, zoonotic agents and food-borne outbreaks in 2016, published by EFSA and ECDC in 2017. Data on case numbers come from the European Surveillance System (TESSy), data on food come from EFSA zoonoses database.

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