Manual for reporting on food-borne outbreaks in accordance with Directive 2003/99/EC for information deriving from the year 2016

Abstract

This manual provides specific guidance for reporting on food-borne outbreaks under the framework of Directive 2003/99/EC. It is based on the reporting format described in the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) report on 'Updated technical specifications for harmonised reporting of food-borne outbreaks through the European Union reporting system in accordance with Directive 2003/99/EC'. The objective is to harmonise and streamline the reporting to EFSA by the Member States. The manual includes the definitions used for reporting food-borne outbreaks data and the variables to be reported. It provides guidance with some examples on how to report and classify the causative agents, food vehicles implicated, places of exposure, places of origin of problem and the contributory factors.