Weekly releases (1997–2007) - Volume 6, Issue 45, 07 November 2002

Although Salmonella Enteritidis phage type (PT) 4, responsible for the major epidemic during the late 1980s and early 1990s (1), has continued to decline, there have been increases in a number of the more unusual phage types of S. Enteritidis (2). Isolates of S. Enteritidis PT 3, 6a, 13a and 14b and 21 confirmed by the Public Health Laboratory Service Laboratory of Enteric Pathogens (PHLS LEP) in England have all increased during 2002 (table 1) (3).

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) in the United Kingdom (UK) has raised concerns over Spanish eggs with the European Commission, and directly with the Spanish food safety authorities after evidence emerged of a link between a number of outbreaks of Salmonella in England and Wales and eggs imported from Spain (1). An outbreak of gastroenteritis due to a strain of S. Enteritidis PT 14b (not known to be linked with foreign travel) is ongoing in England and Wales, with a cumulative total of 290 confirmed cases at 6 November (2 and references therein). The FSA has issued guidance to importers and wholesalers of Spanish eggs that they should ensure that these eggs are heat treated.

New, revised guidelines for the public health management of meningococcal disease have been published in the United Kingdom, as a result of recent changes in the epidemiology of meningococcal disease together with the introduction of new vaccines and an accumulation of new evidence on risk evaluation and control methods (1). The guidelines cover pre-admission management, investigation of suspect cases, the role of public health, public health action after a single case, prophylaxis in healthcare settings and the management of clusters. The guidance contains detailed revisions on the use of antibiotics before admission to hospital, the rationale and indications for chemoprophylaxis, and the use of new vaccines. All recommendations within the review are graded according to the level of evidence on which they are based, probably the first European guidelines to do so (2).

The Department of Health in England has issued the latest figures on known cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the United Kingdom (UK), including cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), the form of the disease thought to be linked to bovine spongiform encephalopathy.