Measures aimed at controlling the spread of COVID-19 appear to have reduced food poisoning in England, according to a study.

Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) include travel restrictions, social distancing, lockdowns, and isolation policies.

Researchers looked at cases of seven reportable communicable diseases including food poisoning from January 2017 to January 2021.

Continue Reading Decline in foodborne illnesses in England likely linked to COVID-19 restrictions

There has been a decline in consumer handwashing from mid-2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on results from a Food Standards Agency (FSA) survey.

Between April 2020 and January 2022, the proportion who reported handwashing with soap and warm water “always” or “most of the time” declined from 79 percent

Continue Reading Positive pandemic handwashing trend not maintained, finds FSA

The CDC and other public health agencies are investigating a cluster of hepatitis illnesses among children in 25 states. The outbreak is thought to be part of an international situation that has seen more than 200 children sickened.

In the United States there have been 109 patients identified since October
Continue Reading CDC seeks help from state, local health officials in hepatitis investigation

The number of Campylobacter infections were not impacted by public health measures taken due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to French surveillance.

Data published by Santé publique France comes from the National Reference Center (CNR) for Campylobacter and Helicobacter as well as outbreak notifications.

A decrease in the number of
Continue Reading COVID measures didn’t affect Campylobacter reports in France

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect reports of other diseases in 2021, according to the Public Health Agency of Sweden (Folkhälsomyndigheten).

A summary of the epidemiological annual report for 2021 shows that foodborne diseases, such as Campylobacter and Salmonella, increased slightly compared with 2020 but the number of cases was
Continue Reading Swedish disease data points to reduced COVID-19 impact in 2021

Gastrointestinal infection outbreaks halved during the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic in England but bacterial pathogens declined the least, according to a study.

Compared with the 5-year average from 2015 to 2019, there was a 52 percent decrease in such outbreaks in the first half of 2020 from
Continue Reading COVID-19 impact lower for foodborne pathogens in England

A decline in Salmonella across Australia in 2020 has been linked to actions to tackle COVID-19, according to a study.

Researchers compared Salmonella rates in 2020 to past years and looked at the impact of COVID-19 measures. Findings were published in the Communicable Diseases Intelligence journal.

To control coronavirus,
Continue Reading Australian decrease in Salmonella linked to COVID-19 actions