Personal Injury Law

Foodborne Illnesses Increase - 2008 FoodNet Data on the Incidence of Infection with Pathogens Transmitted Commonly Through Food

By Bill Marler, Esq.

Surveillance Results

In 2008, a total of 18,499 laboratory-confirmed cases of infection in FoodNet surveillance areas were identified. The number of infections and incidence per 100,000 population were reported as follows: Salmonella (7,444; 16.20), Campylobacter (5,825; 12.68), Shigella (3,029; 6.59), Cryptosporidium (1,036; 2.25), STEC O157 (513; 1.12), STEC non-O157 (205; 0.45), Yersinia (164; 0.36), Listeria (135; 0.29), Vibrio (131; 0.29), and Cyclospora (17; 0.04). Substantial variation in incidence rates occurred among surveillance areas (Table 1). Among all age groups (<4 years, 4--11 years, 12--19 years, 20--49 years, and >50 years)†, the highest incidence occurred among children aged <4 years for all infections except those caused by Cyclospora and Vibrio.

Among age groups of persons infected with the following pathogens, the percentage of persons hospitalized was highest in persons aged >50 years: Listeria (86.2%), STEC O157 (53.3%), Vibrio (45.6%), Salmonella (40.0%), Yersinia (37.5%), Shigella (27.9%), Cryptosporidium (24.5%), and Campylobacter (20.5%). Among age groups of persons infected with the following pathogens, the case fatality rate (CFR) was highest in persons aged >50 years: Listeria (19.5%), Vibrio (7.4%), Salmonella (1.3%), Shigella (0.4%), and Campylobacter (0.4%). For infection with STEC O157, the CFR was highest among children aged <4 years (2.8%); for infection with Cryptosporidium and Yersinia, the CFR was highest in persons aged 20--49 years (1.3% and 3.0%, respectively).

Among 6,750 (91%) Salmonella isolates serotyped, 10 serotypes accounted for 73% of infections: Enteritidis, 1,356 (20.1%); Typhimurium, 1,077 (16.0%); Newport, 681 (10.1%); Javiana, 423 (6.3%); Saintpaul, 403 (6.0%); I 4,[5],12:i:-, 269 (4.0%); Muenchen, 213 (3.2%); Heidelberg, 198 (2.9%); Montevideo, 194 (2.9%); and Braenderup, 108 (1.6%). Among 131 (92%) Vibrio isolates for which the species was identified, 72 (55.0%) were parahaemolyticus, 19 (14.5%) were vulnificus, and eight (6.1%) were alginolyticus. Among 205 STEC non-O157 isolates tested for O antigen determination, 185 (90%) had an identifiable O antigen, most commonly O26 (28.1%), O103 (27.0%), or O111 (19.5%).

Full post as published by Marler Blog on April 11, 2009 (boomark / email).