Eurosurveillance - Volume 4, Issue 6, 01 June 1999

The three entirely different forms of food poisoning described in this issue of Eurosurveillance illustrate the extraordinary propensity of the organisms to survive and cause illness. Clostridium botulinum is an organism which produces its toxin (a toxin

Small round structured viruses (SRSVs - for example, calici-, astro-, and entero-viruses) are the commonest causes of outbreaks of non-bacterial gastroenteritis worldwide. Transmission of SRSVs by water and by various foods – including salads, bakery products, fresh cut fruits, chicken, oysters, and mussels - has been documented.

Human foodborne botulism, in contrast to the other two forms of botulism (wound and infant botulism), is an intoxication that results when preformed botulinum toxin is ingested. Sporadic cases and family and general outbreaks occur when food products are

Until recently the system for reporting infectious diseases in Greece was inadequate, but a new laboratory reporting system was introduced in 1998, in which collaborating laboratories throughout Greece report each week by e-mail or fax using standard form