Listeria problems in Portugal

During the last foodborne Listeria outbreak, it took Portuguese authorities 16 months to detect it. A retrospective study involving 25 national hospitals has led to the detection of the outbreak that occurred between March 2009 and February 2012. Of the 30 cases of listeriosis reported, 27 were in the Lisbon and Vale do Tejo region. Two cases were maternal/neonatal infections and one resulted in foetal loss. There is currently no surveillance programme in place, which makes the detection of this disease in Portugal problematic.

According to the latest Eurosurveilance research report, the source of the outbreak was traced to cheese. “Collaborative investigations with the national health and food safety authorities identified cheese as the probable source of infection, traced to a processing plant. The magnitude of this outbreak, the first reported foodborne listeriosis outbreak in Portugal, highlights the importance of having an effective listeriosis surveillance system in place for early detection and resolution of outbreaks, as well as the need for a process for the prompt submission of Listeria monocytogenes isolates for routine laboratory typing,” the research report states. For more information, click HERE.