[The EHEC O104:H4 outbreak in Germany 2011 - lessons learned?!]

The EHEC O104:H4 outbreak 2011 in Germany provided numerous insights into the recognition and control of such epidemic situations. Food-borne outbreaks and their related dynamics may lead to a critical burden of disease and an eventual capacity overload of the medical care system. Possible difficulties in the microbiological diagnostics of new or significantly altered infectious agents may result in a delayed detection of the outbreak as well as the launching of interventional measures. Besides an early notification of the local public health office by the affected institutions, in which a complete electronic procedure and additional sentinel or surveillance instruments (e. g., in emergency departments of hospitals) may be of great help, an interdisciplinary cooperation of the local public health and food safety agencies is the key to an effective outbreak control. Corresponding organizations on the state and federal level should support the investigation process by microbiological diagnostics and advanced epidemiological analysis as well as examination of the food chains. Finally, successful crisis communication relies on "speaking with one voice" (not necessarily one person). Immediate, transparent, appropriate and honest information of the general public concerning the reasons, consequences and (counter-) measures of a crisis are the best means to keep the trust of the population and to counteract the otherwise inevitable speculations.