State General Laboratory Annual Report 2018

25 State General Laboratory Annual Report 2018 D. Prompt and effective response to food crises and other crises / incidents that occurred in 2018, in coopera- tion with the respective Competent authorities, such as:  Contribution to the combat of food fraud by controlling a number of samples such as honey and olive oils.  Contribution to the obstruction of the sale of alcoholic beverages made from cheap substitutes, as authentic alcoholic beverages (e.g. rum, tequila).  Contribution to the investigation of the big Northern Europe outbreak from Listeria monocytogenes in frozen sweetcorn, by testing a large number of frozen vegetable samples from the market.  Participation in the investigation of four outbreaks, three from salmonellosis (eggs and chicken) and one from Escherichia coli O157 (possibly from salad), respectively.  Scientific support to the Police as regards the management of serious and major cases involving drugs.  Scientific support to the Police as regards investigation of a case of child abuse.  Scientific support to the Police as regards investigation of five murder cases.  Response to 115 incidents of hospitals’ Emergency and Intensive Care Departments.  Scientific support to a request from the Department of Public Works to check 81 samples from a demolished settlement for asbestos fibers presence. E. Continuous contribution to tackling Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), with the intensive control of products of animal origin for antibiotics residues. 0 10 20 30 40 50 Distribution of Non compliant samples of animal product origin for Antibiotics over the years 2010-2018 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2018 2017 % Analysed samples Aminoglucosides (meat/milk) Macrolides (meat/milk) Penicillines (meat/milk) Tetracyclines (meat/milk) Sulphonamides (honey) Sulphonamides(meat/milk) Distribution of non-compliant samples of animal product origin for antibiotics over the years 2010-2018 F. Continuous contribution, through the systematic microbiological monitoring of marine waters it carries out, towards the classification of Cyprus waters among the cleanest bathing waters in the EU in recent years, within the framework of Directive 2006/7/ΕΚ and the "Blue Flag" EU programme. Especially in 2018, Cyprus was first in the European rankings.