There were also a lot of questions about clinical treatment for patients. The EC asked ECDC to work on this, so we put together a group of leading clinical experts and some of the doctors involved in the outbreak. This led to clinical reference materials for treating patients, which the ECDC published on its website. Discussing best practices with doctors at the EU level had never been done before; we are very satisfied with the results of this initiative.
The ECDC and EFSA also produced a joint statement, giving public health advice on the prevention of diarrheal illness, with a special focus on E. coli. Guidelines on prevention measures related to good personal hand hygiene and to food handling have been available on our websites since the beginning of June.
The Future
“It was very useful to have an ECDC liaison officer embedded in the German outbreak investigation team.”
Marc Sprenger, director of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
I think that four key lessons have been learned from this public health crisis. First, it is important to keep strengthening collaboration with our partners in the EU. It was very useful to have an ECDC liaison officer embedded in the German outbreak investigation team, both for the ECDC and for our German partners. Information sharing was much easier and our cooperation was stronger. We are now working on some standard terms of reference for this role in the future and are looking forward to reaching agreement on these terms with our national partners.
Second, we need to keep investing in EU microbiology networks and public health institutions. We should continue to draw on the existing capacity in Europe, where we have excellent laboratories and experts well trained in infectious diseases.
Third, we must have cross-sectoral cooperation at all levels for joint risk assessment in order to streamline the different facets of our work and create “one-voice” information for the policy makers and citizens of the EU.
Last but not least, we need to bear in mind the fact that infectious diseases don’t respect borders, which is why a local outbreak can quickly become an EU-wide event. A health crisis like this one, with more than 40 patients dead, hundreds permanently disabled, and thousands more hospitalized, motivates us to be even better prepared and to do even better next time.
Notable E. coli Outbreaks
- 1993 (U.S.): Four children died and nearly 700 victims were sickened in a Pacific Northwest outbreak caused by E. coli 0157:H7 in undercooked hamburgers from Jack in the Box. Outbreak resulted in significant regulatory reform and millions of dollars in injury settlements.
- 1996 (Japan): 12 people died in an outbreak that sickened more than 10,000 in Japan in the biggest recorded outbreak.
- 1996 (Scotland): Stewed beef at a church lunch for elderly parishioners was blamed for more than 20 deaths, though not all as a direct result of E. coli infection.
- 1997 (U.S.): More than 25 million pounds of ground beef were recalled by a Hudson Foods plant in Columbus, Neb. About 20 people fell ill.
- 1999 (U.S.): Two died and more than 1,000 were sickened by E. coli 0157:H7 in water at the Washington County Fair in Easton, N.Y.
- 2000 (Canada): Seven died and 2,300 were sickened when E. coli contaminated drinking water in the town of Walkerton, Ont.
- 2002 (U.S.): ConAgra recalled 19 million pounds of ground beef after E. coli 0157:H7 killed one person and sickened more than a dozen in the West.
- 2005 (South Wales): One child died and 31 people were hospitalized in one of the biggest outbreaks in the United Kingdom.
- 2006 (U.S.): Three died and more than 250 fell ill in an outbreak attributed to uncooked spinach grown on land leased from an Angus cattle ranch. Contaminated lettuce served by Taco Bell and Taco John’s was implicated in a second outbreak that sickened people in six states.
- 2007 (U.S.): Topps Meat Company in Elizabeth, N.J., went out of business after recalling about 22 million pounds of ground beef linked to E. coli illnesses in several states.
- 2009 (U.S.): At least 66 people in 28 states were sickened in an E. coli 0157:H7 outbreak thought to have been caused by Nestlé raw cookie dough
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