Surveillance of Foodborne Pathogens on the island of Ireland

• Project start date: 8 November 2007
• Project status: Completed
• Discipline: Microbiology and food hygiene

Research objective

The objective of this research was to enhance foodborne pathogen surveillance on the island of Ireland by evaluating current systems and identifying areas for improvement across human, food, and animal domains. The research aims to provide recommendations to strengthen surveillance mechanisms, improve data comparability and sharing, and ensure timely and effective control measures for foodborne diseases. The focus is on integrating efforts between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to achieve a unified approach in managing and mitigating foodborne pathogens.

Outputs

Research report

• Title: Surveillance of Foodborne Pathogens on the island of Ireland
• Publication date: 6 February 2008
• Summary: This research project assessed the foodborne pathogen surveillance systems on the island of Ireland, covering human, food, and animal domains. The study involved a review of existing monitoring and surveillance systems, recent advancements, and ongoing developments in each domain. The methods included analysing current practices, identifying gaps, and consulting with stakeholders to formulate recommendations. The project highlights the need for improved data sharing, standardisation, and coordination across jurisdictions to enhance food safety and pathogen control.
• Findings:
  • Human Infectious Intestinal Disease: Issues with data comparability and timeliness affect optimal control. Electronic reporting advancements offer opportunities for better data alignment.
  • Microbiological Food Safety Surveillance: Variability in food coding systems and electronic data handling creates challenges. Recent advancements include the Northern Ireland Strategic Committee on Food Surveillance.
  • Surveillance of Food Animals: Both ROI and NI follow similar EU frameworks, but there is room for better data sharing and collaboration between animal health and food safety agencies.
  • Research Role: Access to timely research data is hindered by traditional dissemination methods, impacting policy and practice.
• Recommendations:

  Human Disease Surveillance

  • Investigate case-based reporting and central data linkage in NI.
  • Perform periodic all-island reporting using standardised data.
  • Develop a comprehensive human Enteric Reference Service in ROI.
  • Centralise and formally disseminate final reports on general outbreaks.
  • Commission source attribution studies to determine foodborne disease proportions.
  • Align core surveillance data sets across NI and ROI.

   

  Microbiological Food Safety Surveillance

  • Improve data sharing and coordination by addressing food coding systems, sampling programmes, and electronic data handling.
  • Enhance feedback mechanisms and explore under-utilised data sources.

   

  Surveillance of Food Animals

  •  Increase regular interactions and data sharing between animal health and food safety agencies.
  •  Support and enable the National Zoonoses Committee (ROI) and Regional Zoonoses Group (NI) in data analysis and trend review.
  •  Consider enhancing data from EU baseline surveys and consolidating submissions for comprehensive risk assessment.

   

  Role of Research

  • Coordinate relevant research on an all-island basis.
  • Broaden participation in safefood networks and explore new dissemination mechanisms for early access to data.

   

  Vision for Surveillance

  •  Conduct consultations on recommendations and the vision.
  •  Present a strategic proposal to the NSMC for enhancing foodborne pathogen surveillance across jurisdictions and on an island-wide basis.