Large concomitant outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis emergency visits in adults and food-borne events suspected to be linked to raw shellfish, France, December 2019 to January 2020

Euro Surveill. 2020 Feb;25(7):2000060. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.7.2000060.

Abstract

On 27 December 2019, the French Public Health Agency identified a large increase in the number of acute gastroenteritis and vomiting visits, both in emergency departments and in emergency general practitioners' associations providing house-calls. In parallel, on 26 and 27 December, an unusual number of food-borne events suspected to be linked to the consumption of raw shellfish were reported through the mandatory reporting surveillance system. This paper describes these concomitant outbreaks and the investigations' results.

Keywords: emergency; foodborne diseases; gastrointestinal diseases; mandatory reporting; norovirus; shellfish; syndromic surveillance.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Animals
  • Disease Outbreaks / statistics & numerical data*
  • Emergency Service, Hospital / statistics & numerical data*
  • Feces / virology
  • Female
  • Food Contamination
  • Foodborne Diseases / epidemiology
  • Foodborne Diseases / virology*
  • France / epidemiology
  • Gastroenteritis / epidemiology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mandatory Reporting
  • Middle Aged
  • Norovirus / genetics
  • Norovirus / isolation & purification
  • Ostreidae / virology
  • Population Surveillance / methods*
  • Public Health
  • Sentinel Surveillance*
  • Shellfish / virology*
  • Vomiting / epidemiology
  • Vomiting / etiology*
  • Young Adult