Surveillance shows high incidence and case-fatality rates for Listeriosis in Germany, 2010–2019

Ten-year surveillance data (2010-2019) for the mandatory notification data about invasive listeriosis cases in Germany was reported in Emerging Infectious disease (Wilking et al., Emerging Infectious Disease Volume 27, Number 9, September 2021). A total of 5,576 listeriosis cases were reported. The case fatality rate was 13% in non-pregnancy cases. Most fatalities were in adults 65+. The case-fatality rate for Germany in this study is lower than that for Europe overall, 15.6%, and for the USA, 21%.  The lowest annual incidence was in 2011 (0.41/100,000 residents) and the highest in 2017 (0.93/100,000 residents). The average for 2010–2019 was 0.69/100,000 residents. A steady increase in cases was seen during 2011–2017, but the incidence in 2019 was lower than in previous years. Exceptionally high numbers were reported in the third quarters of 2016, 2017, and 2018. Successfully identifying and controlling large outbreaks, especially after whole-genome sequencing-based surveillance was introduced, might explain why the trend in increases ended after 2017. Overall, listeriosis incidence in Germany is higher than in all neighboring countries except Denmark. @ https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/27/9/21-0068_article