Dear all,
As you may be aware of, FAO and WHO have initiated a series of activities on
risk assessment of microbiological hazards in food. In 2001, Vibrio spp in
seafood is one of the subject to be addressed. In this regard, a call for
experts interested in participating in this work has been released. In
addition, an international call for data on Vibrio in seafood has also been
released. The text of these calls and information on the risk assessment
work can be found on the following web links or through the WHO web page.
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/ECONOMIC/ESN/pagerisk/riskpage.htm
<http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/ECONOMIC/ESN/pagerisk/riskpage.htm>
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/ECONOMIC/ESN/pagerisk/CallCamp.htm
<http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/ECONOMIC/ESN/pagerisk/CallCamp.htm>
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/ECONOMIC/ESN/pagerisk/datavibr.htm
<http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/FAOINFO/ECONOMIC/ESN/pagerisk/datavibr.htm>
In addition, the text of the call for data is reproduced below for easy
reference. It goes without saying that the quality of the outcome of this
work will depend on the amount and quality of data submitted. It is
therefore important that all those working on Vibrios in seafood submit
their data. As stated below these can be data generated from different work
(research work, surveys, data from inspection services (import and export),
data from the industry's own controls and analysis, etc...) in addition to
data related to public health. If you are aware of colleagues that are not
on the Seafood list, and working on this subject, please copy this message
to them. In hoping to inundated with data, may I wish you a late Happy New
Year.
Best regards
Peter.
Peter Karim Ben Embarek
Fishery Industry Officer
Fish Utilization and Marketing service (FIIU), Fisheries Department,
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Via Delle Terme di Caracalla, 0100 Rome, Italy.
Phone : +39 06 570 55034 Fax : +39 06 570 55188 E.mail:
peter.benembarek@fao.org <mailto:peter.benembarek@fao.org>
URL : http://www.fao.org/fi <http://www.fao.org/fi/>
Request for Risk Assessments and Relevant Data on Vibrio spp. in Seafood
December 2000
Background
In continuing their work on risk assessment of microbiological hazards in
foods FAO and WHO will embark on a series of activities to address risk
assessment of Vibrio spp. in seafood in 2001. This will involve the
development of technical documentation on risk assessment of this pathogen -
commodity combination and the convening of a joint FAO/WHO Expert
Consultation in July 2001.
Ad hoc working groups will be established to examine the available relevant
information on the above mentioned pathogen-commodity combination and
prepare technical documents on both the exposure assessment and hazard
characterisation aspects of the risk assessment. This documentation will be
reviewed by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation in July 2001. In November
2001, the preliminary report of this Expert Consultation, which will address
exposure assessment and hazard characterization of Vibrio spp. in seafood,
will be made available to Member States and the 34th session of the Codex
Committee on Food Hygiene.
Disease causing species of Vibrio occur naturally in marine and
brackish-water environments in both tropical and temperate regions and are
commonly isolated from seafood. There is a positive correlation between
water temperature and both the number of human pathogenic vibrios isolated
and the number of reported infections. A seasonal correlation is
particularly marked for V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus. In general,
the infectious dose necessary to cause intestinal disease is high, and the
risk associated with eating fish is therefore likely to be low. The genus
contains eight species that cause food-borne illness. Most food-borne
infection is caused by V. parahaemolyticus, V. cholerae, and V. vulnificus.
V. parahaemolyticus is the principal cause of seafood associated, food-borne
outbreaks in Japan and is a health hazard in seafoods consumed throughout
the world.. Outbreaks of cholera (V. cholerae; O1, O139 and non-O1/non-O139)
have been associated with consumption of seafood including oysters, crabs
and shrimp and with the fermented fish, ceviche. Although, no major
outbreaks of illness have been attributed to V. vulnificus, it has been
associated with primary septicaemia in immunocompromised individuals,
following ingestion of raw bivalves.
Request for Data
FAO and WHO are requesting governments, interested organizations, food
producers/processors, academia, and individuals to submit any available risk
assessments and relevant data on Vibrio spp. in seafood. This risk
assessments and data may be published or unpublished. Reference should be
made to related published studies, where applicable. Receipt of such
information is very important in ensuring the success and the provision of
expert advice on risk assessment of microbiological hazards in foods at the
international level. The types of information of interest include the
following:
1.Completed and ongoing risk assessments addressing any of the
above-mentioned Vibrio spp. in seafood.
2.Statistics on vibriosis: number of illnesses, hospitalizations, deaths,
chronic sequelae. Statistics also grouped by: gender of Vibriosis cases
(male/female), age of vibriosis cases (children, elderly, etc), other
groupings of interest, health status, immune status, and concurrent
treatments or illnesses.
3.Outbreak data specifying: attack rates, population exposed, number
species of Vibrio in incriminated food (enumeration data), type and
origin of food, serotype and toxin type, severity of outcomes.
4.Consumption data (meal size and frequency of eating) for seafood
(specify product): by country, by region, by season, by age groups,
pregnant women and immuno-compromised persons or those with other
underlying illness.
5.The prevalence of Vibrio spp. and also the enumeration of Vibrio spp.
within seafood (Including test methods, sampling plan and if possible the
sensitivity of the test used to obtain this information) at the following
stages: In seawater, harvesting, transport (include prevalence and
enumeration information both before and after transport), processing
(include prevalence and enumeration both before and after each step),
retail (include prevalence and enumeration information at retail), and
home (include enumeration information only).
6.Details on the harvesting conditions; transport conditions for seafood
from ports to processing plants; storage and distribution of fresh
seafood (include temperature/time profiles and enumeration before and
after storage and/or distribution) and cross contamination during
home preparation of seafood.
7.Data on the presence and number of bacteria in the chill chain
8.Data characterising domestic/consumer handling (specifically
temperature of home refrigerators and average storage times for foods
consumed at home)
Confidential and/or unpublished data
FAO and WHO recognise that much of the data which is now required may be
unpublished or of a confidential nature. With regard to unpublished data the
copyright of the data remains with the author for subsequent publication by
the owner as original material. Unpublished confidential studies that are
submitted will be safeguarded in so far as it is possible to do so without
compromising the work of the drafting groups. Specific issues relating to
confidentiality should be discussed directly between the data owners and
FAO/WHO. For these and other issues please contact FAO and WHO at the
contacts provided below.
Please submit your data (hard or electronic copies) to either of the
following addresses, not later than 1 March 2001:
Food Quality and Standards Service
Attention: Ms. Maria de Lourdes Costarrica
Food and Nutrition Division
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Viale delle Terme di Caracalla
00100 Rome, Italy
Telephone: + 39 06 5705 6060
Facsimile: + 39 06 5705 4593
Email: lourdes.costarrica@fao.org
and
Food
Safety Programme
Attention: Dr. Hajime Toyofuku
World Health Organization
Avenue Appia 1211
Geneva 27
Switzerland
Telephone: +41 22 791 3556
Facsimile: +41 22 791 4807
Email: toyofukuh@who.int
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