Standardised national system for collecting data on the foods involved in disease outbreaks (BELA)
Foodborne infections and intoxications in humans can be caused by a variety of bacterial, viral and parasitic pathogens or the poisons they produce. Most often, they cause gastrointestinal complaints that often take a mild, self-limiting course; however, they can also cause severe, sometimes life-threatening syndromes. A foodborne outbreak is suspected when two or more people become ill with the same foodborne disease.
Responsibility for BELA reorganised as of 1 January 2015
Due to a change in the legal basis (General Administrative Regulation on the Collection, Analysis and Publication of Data on the Occurrence of Zoonoses and Zoonotic Agents along the Food Chain (AVV Zoonosen Lebensmittelkette)), the BELA system has been managed by the External Link:Federal Office of Consumer Protection and Food Safety (BVL) since 1 January 2015.
Development of the BELA detection system at the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment
The BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment has developed a data collection system (BELA) for the nationwide collection of data on foods involved in disease outbreaks, which emerged from the ZEVALI system (Central Collection of Data on Outbreaks of Foodborne Infections and Intoxications). The BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment managed this recording system from 2005 until the end of 2014 and used the data for risk identification and risk assessment. The data on foods involved in outbreaks were collected by the competent authorities of the federal states and transmitted to the BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. The evaluated data were published by BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment in annual summary reports. The data also formed the basis for BfRshort forGerman Federal Institute for Risk Assessment statements and press releases with the aim of reducing the number of foodborne diseases in Germany. In addition, the data were compared with the data on human cases of disease collected by the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) under the Infection Protection Act, and integrated into the EU zoonoses report in accordance with Directive 2003/99/EC.