Table 34.
Summary of Listeria monocytogenes statistics related to invasive human infections and on sampled major RTE food categories in the EU, 2017–2021
| 2021 (a) | 2020 | 2019 (b) | 2018 (b) | 2017 (b) | Data source | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Humans | ||||||
| Total number of confirmed cases | 2,183 | 1,887 | 2,621 | 2,544 | 2,474 | ECDC |
| Total number of confirmed cases/100,000 population (notification rates) | 0.49 | 0.43 | 0.46 | 0.47 | 0.47 | ECDC |
| Number of reporting MSs | 27 | 27 | 28 | 28 | 28 | ECDC |
| Infection acquired in the EU | 1,482 | 1,285 | 1,816 | 1,640 | 1,639 | ECDC |
| Infection acquired outside the EU | 4 | 5 | 14 | 8 | 4 | ECDC |
| Unknown travel status or unknown country of infection | 697 | 597 | 791 | 896 | 831 | ECDC |
| Number of outbreak‐related cases | 104 | 120 | 349 | 159 | 39 | EFSA |
| Total number of outbreaks | 23 | 16 | 21 | 14 | 10 | EFSA |
| Sampled major RTE food categories (c) | ||||||
| Meat and meat products | ||||||
| Number of sampling units | 107,198 | 40,291 | 64,971 | 58,060 | 45,322 | EFSA |
| Number of reporting MSs | 23 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 24 | EFSA |
| Fish and fishery products | ||||||
| Number of sampling units | 29,273 | 11,212 | 13,366 | 14,031 | 12,603 | EFSA |
| Number of reporting MSs | 24 | 23 | 22 | 22 | 24 | EFSA |
| Milk and milk products | ||||||
| Number of sampling units | 66,633 | 49,132 | 61,866 | 59,313 | 56,428 | EFSA |
| Number of reporting MSs | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | EFSA |
| Products intended for infants or special medical purposes | ||||||
| Number of sampling units | 2,764 | 2,394 | 2,346 | 2,433 | 1,943 | EFSA |
| Number of reporting MSs | 19 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 21 | EFSA |
| Other products | ||||||
| Number of sampling units | 94,817 | 81,541 | 80,110 | 28,143 | 27,946 | EFSA |
| Number of reporting MSs | 23 | 24 | 24 | 23 | 23 | EFSA |
ECDC: European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control; EFSA: European Food Safety Authority; MSs: Member States; RTE: ready‐to‐eat.
: Data on food and animal samples from the United Kingdom (Northern Ireland) are taken into account for 2021. In accordance with the agreement on the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU, and in particular with the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, EU requirements on data sampling are also applicable to Northern Ireland.
: Data from the United Kingdom are taken into account for 2017–2019, because the United Kingdom was an EU MS, but it became a third country on 1 February 2020.
: Number of sampling units tested by detection or enumeration method; number of reporting MSs. More details on the number of samples per MS and for non‐MSs can be found in Appendix A.