More than 700 food-related outbreaks were reported in the Netherlands in both 2018 and 2019.
In 2018, 756 foodborne outbreaks with 2,805 illnesses were recorded and in this past year 735 outbreaks with 3,058 illnesses were reported. The number of outbreaks went up from 2017 but illnesses declined.
The data comes from an overview by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) of the main zoonoses and their prevalence in the country for the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA). It features 2018 and 2019 figures. The NVWA did not report 2018 outbreak data in 2019 because of a technical issue.
Norovirus was the main cause of outbreaks with 16 and 17 in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and most patients in both years with 370 and 375. The number of outbreaks is lower than 2017 but higher than 2016.
