A very large number of traceable zoonotic events occur each year in the EU. Most result in mild illness but some are very serious/fatal. Tracing policy varies from one state to another but most events are caused by contaminated food or drink. People can carry disease while suffering no ill-effects and pass the disease on to others through food handling.
Evidence from:
The EFSA Journal (2006) 403, 1-62
“Zoonoses, Zoonotic Agents and Antimicrobial Resistance in the European Union in 2004”
Bacteria were the cause of the majority of confirmed zoonotic infections in humans in the EU in 2004:
- Salmanellosis 192,703 cases (42 per 100,000)(principally from raw hen egg, [broiler] flesh and egg products, probably transmitted in animal feeds, between 2% and 18% of fresh poultry meat samples test positive, below 10% in pig meat, outbreaks have also been traced to foods washed with contaminated water, disease in humans is usually reversible, but was reported to have led to 12 deaths)
Further detail: