ABSTRACT
Clarication of an outbreak of food contamination is never an easy task. It is not made easier today by the ease with which contaminated material can be transported and the extent of international distribution. Large-scale modern food production, combined with complex transnational retailing systems and consumer expectations for food items with extended shelf lives, adds to the impediments to outbreak investigation. However, this was the extent of the challenge when an outbreak of invasive listeriosis occurred in Central Europe between June 2009 and February 2010. Thirty-four people became ill. Eight of these people died (Fretz et al., 2010a).
