Marked decrease in reporting incidence of salmonellosis driven by lower rates of Salmonella Enteritidis infections in Germany in 2008 - a continuing trend

In Germany, since the enactment of the Protection Against Infection Act (IfSG) in 2001, notification of cases of salmonellosis is based on a stable case definition [1], facilitating comparability of data. The annual incidence of notified cases of salmonellosis has declined from over 90 per 100,000 population in 2001 to 60-70 per 100,000 in 2004 through 2007. After very little change from 2005 through 2007, a marked decrease of the number of notified cases (22.6% compared to 2007) was observed in 2008. This drop, as well as the overall decline since 2001 was almost entirely due to the dwindling number of notifications of infections with Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica of serotype Enteritidis (SE)