BURDEN OF FOODBORNE DISEASE: PILOT STUDY IN ALBANIA PROGRESS REPORT

In September 2006 the World Health Organization (WHO) Department of Food Safety and Zoonoses launched an initiative to estimate the global burden of foodborne diseases. Two of the three objectives of the initiative are to strengthen national capacity to conduct burden of foodborne illness studies and promote the use of results in policy. This paper describes progress on a national burden of foodborne illness study in Albania. Human health surveillance and food safety agencies in Albania are described as part of a situation analysis. Data from these agencies includes reported cases of gastro entericdisease, food poisoning but etiologyc data are few. Ad hoc studies of other potentially foodborne diseases (parasitic and viral infections) have been conducted, but the importance of foodborne transmission is unclear. Data on the prevalence of hazards (particularly chemicals) in the food supply are very limited. The global and regional estimates provided by the WHO initiative will help fill data gaps and provide context to assist estimation of the burden of foodborne disease in Albania.