Submissions of human Salmonella isolates are approaching pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels in Austria after a decline in 2020 and 2021, according to the Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection (BMSGPK).
In 2022, the number of isolates sent to the National Reference Centre for Salmonella increased by 118. This past year, 1,166 Salmonella isolates were submitted to the reference center compared with 1,048 in 2021. It is still below the 1,872 sent in 2019.
In 2022, the Austrian National Reference Centre for Yersinia at the Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety (AGES) received 201 human isolates.
Of these, 107 were pathogenic, and 94 were non-pathogenic. Among the pathogenic ones, 105 belonged to Yersinia enterocolitica including 88 serovar O:3; biovar 4, and two were Yersinia pseudotuberculosis.
A total of 130 cases of yersiniosis were reported to BMSGPK. This was about the same level as in 2021. Based on data from 38 patients, 22 cases reported diarrhea, 11 had cases of abdominal pain and three each mentioned vomiting and fever.