Classement par ordre d'importance des zoonoses alimentaires: méthodologie et application à la situation belge

A semi-quantitative methodology was developed to rank an extended list of foodborne zoonoses. Scores were given by 35 scientific experts in a standardised manner to 51 zoonotic agents based on five criteria related to public health (severity and occurrence in humans), impact on animal health (severity of disease coupled with economic consequences and occurrence in animals) and food (occurrence in food). Independently, the relative importance of the five criteria was weighted by 7 food chain risk managers. The zoonotic agents were ranked based on overall weighted scores and were grouped in four statistically different levels of importance. The following foodborne zoonotic pathogens were classified as "most important" : Salmonella spp., Campylobacter spp., Listeria monocytogenes and verocytotoxigenic Escherichia coli (VTEC). These results support the establishment of the annual monitoring programme. They also make it possible to identify knowledge gaps and to formulate key research questions