17.07.2012

Esaki et al (2012) Epidemiol Infect

In 2006, the Food Safety Commission of Japan started to organize the risk profile of S. Enteritidis contamination in eggs in order to conduct a risk assessment. In this process, it was pointed out that a nationwide estimate of S. Enteritidis contamination in eggs was necessary for the risk assessment.

 

A total of 105,033 eggs were collected across Japan from June 2010 to January 2011 and tested for Salmonella Enteritidis to provide data for the risk profiling of S. Enteritidis in eggs by the Food Safety Commission of Japan. S. Enteritidis isolates were recovered from three samples (20 eggs/sample) and these samples were different in regard to sampling period, grading and packaging centre and farm. The prevalence of S. Enteritidis in commercial eggs in Japan is estimated at ~ 0.003% which was a tenfold decrease in prevalence compared to similar surveillance in the mid 1990s. The decrease of Salmonella contamination from the late 1990s to 2000s might be the result of various efforts for Salmonella control in the late 1990s. In 1998, S. Enteritidis and S. Tyhimurium were designated as notifiable infectious diseases by the revision of the Act on Domestic Animal Infectious Disease Control. Moreover, the standards of chicken egg or household egg handling guidelines (e.g. the setting of best-before date) were set and the use of inactivated Salmonella vaccine for S. Enteritidis or S. Typhimurium was approved. In response to these measures, producers increased efforts to produce clean eggs. After these approaches, the detection rate of S. Enteritidis in layer farms had decreased by half and foodborne diseases caused by Salmonella decreased by 90% (757 cases in 1998 to 73 cases in 2010).