Mussels and Norovirus in 2014 through RASFF

A new alert on norovirus contaminating mussels has been published this month [Dec] on RASFF.

Mussels and Norovirus

Mussels (Mytilus) are accounting for 10% of the contaminated products by foodborne viruses through RASFF 2014. 1 out of 6 was hepatitis A Virus, and 5 out of 6 were noroviruses.

Italy and Spanish mussels

Italy is at the origin of 4 Information for Follow-ups or alerts on Spanish mussels, the first one occurred in Sept. 2014.

Italy and RASFF Alerts

Italy is the leading european country for RASFF virus alerts in 2014, followed by Spain and Portugal. 10 out of 28 EU countries  have been reporting virus (norovirus and hepatitis A Virus) alerts on the RASFF 2014.

Spain, 4th major importer of mussels in EU

France is the major importer of mussels in EU, followed by Italy, Netherlands and Spain (http://www.aquahoy.com/mercados/estudios/20812-mercado-mundial-de-los-bivalvos-septiembre-de-2013)

Several Food Safety alerts in European Mollusks in November 2014

In the last week, no less than 3 alerts have been published in the RASFF European alert System for



Norovirus 2014.1511 : Norovirus in Spanish Mussels - Italian Alert - Nov. 2014 - Origin Spain - Information
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Norovirus 2014.1503 : Norovirus in French Oysters - Italian Alert - Nov. 2014 - Origin France - Information
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Norovirus 2014.1488 : Norovirus in French Oysters - Norwegian Alert - Nov. 2014 - Origin France - Information
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This adds up to reach 57 food Safety Alerts in Europe for Viruses (Norovirus and Hepatitis A Virus)

This is to compare with the 48 alerts from 2013.