Compared to the period before the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of cases of almost all notifiable infectious diseases reported in 2020 decreased substantially. The most notable reduction was observed for human to human communicable diseases.
There was also a large reduction in gastrointestinal diseases. This was especially pronounced for rotavirus gastroenteritis, shigellosis and norovirus gastroenteritis
Despite the large decrease in the number of cases the gastrointestinal diseases norovirus, gastroenteritis, Campylobacter enteritis and rotavirus gastroenteritis, these infectious diseases continue to remain among the most frequently notified.
Sequencing helped to identify several listeriosis outbreaks across federal states through foodborne outbreak investigations. By comparing the isolates from the affected individuals and from the contaminated food, the probable vehicle of the outbreak could be identified.
FoodWorld 