From national to international – challenges in cross-border multi-country, multi-vehicle foodborne outbreak investigations

and Scavia et al. reporting the findings of the investigations of an unusual increase in Salmonella Goldcoast infections in Hungary and Italy respectively, in 2009 [1,2]. The increase in notified cases started around June and July in both countries. While the magnitude remained limited, it persisted over a period of several weeks and therefore, in early October, Hungary reported this increase to the European Epidemic Intelligence Information System for food-and waterborne diseases in the European Union (EU) [3], to check if other EU/European Economic Area (EEA) Member States had experienced a similar increase. In response to this, within four weeks, five countries: Denmark, Italy, Norway, Spain, and United Kingdom, reported recently diagnosed laboratory-confirmed S. Goldcoast cases possibly linked to the cases in Hungary [4]. S. Goldcoast is a rare serovar, with between 150 and 200 cases reported annually in the EU/EEA from 2007 to 2010, excluding 2009 (unpublished data). In 2009, 314 cases were reported, representing a significant increase compared to the background level in the years 2007 to 2010.