Outbreak of salmonella from infected eggs in Europe – Τhe situation in Greece

To date, no cases of food poisoning have been recorded in Greece from Salmonela enteritidis ST11, which was recently detected in EU countries and cost the lives of two people from the consumption of raw eggs, as Mr. Theodoros Kallitsis, veterinarian (PhD from the University of California in Food Science / Food Microbiology and research associate at the Animal Husbandry Laboratory of the Thessaloniki University School of Veterinary Medicine) pointed out to state news agency AMNA.

In order to keep our country "clean" from the aforementioned microbe, Mr. Kallitsis emphasizes that this will be achieved with the faithful and unwavering implementation of the precautionary measures required by European and national legislation for the production of eggs and poultry meat.

"The better we manage to implement the precautionary measures, the more effective is the reduction and even the elimination of salmonella, the germ that is normally found in the intestinal tract of poultry and other farmed animals."

"The battle for control and efficiency must be continuous and intense, and if the problem arises we must put it in its proper dimension, without creating panic in society," he said, adding that the European Food Safety Authority and the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), on the spread of cases of the Salmonella enteritidis ST11 strain.

The joint announcement of European agencies

In a joint statement, the two European agencies said that the risk of new infections caused by this ST 11 subtype of salmonella enteritidis and infected eggs remains high in the European Union / European Economic Area (EEA).

They also recommended that research be promoted in all areas of the egg supply chain in EU countries where the...

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