The number of cases of people with reported foodborne illnesses in the United States was dropping until 2004 – since then the numbers have not fallen, according to a report published by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).
The new data comes from FoodNet. FoodNet is part of the CDC’s Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network – it monitors foodborne diseases and carries out epidemiologic* studies which help health offices better understand the epidemiology of foodborne disease across the nation.
* Epidemiology is the study of how often diseases occur in different groups of people and why.
The report shows that the following have not dropped significantly –
— Campylobacter
— Listeria
— Salmonella
— Shigella
— E.coli O157
— Vibrio
— Yersinia
Since 2004 the incidence of Cryptosporidium has increased.
The CDC stresses that over the long term there has been a fall in the incidence of foodborne infections. The worry is that the fall stopped in 2004.
Dr. Robert Tauxe, Deputy Director, Division of Foodborne, Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, CDC, said “The results show that prevention efforts have been partly successful, but there has been little further progress in the most recent years. More needs to be done to make our food safer. We are constantly working to help our public health system better detect, investigate and control outbreaks and to understand how to prevent foodborne illnesses from happening in the first place. FoodNet is an important part of our food safety system and is how we measure progress.”
Faye Feldstein, Acting Director, Office of Food Defense, FDA, said “FoodNet is an important public health surveillance tool. FDA will continue to support this important endeavor and is committed to pursuing strategies to reduce all foodborne illness. FDA′s Food Protection Plan represents a major new initiative that is heavily focused on prevention linked to targeted intervention and rapid response that is taking a production to consumption approach to addressing protection of the food supply”
As a consumer, there are things you can do to protect yourself and your family from foodborne illnesses. You should follow safe food-handling recommendations; avoid consuming unpasteurized milk, raw or undercooked oysters, raw/undercooked eggs, raw/undercooked ground beef, and undercooked poultry.
“Preliminary FoodNet Data on the Incidence of Infection with Pathogens Transmitted Commonly Through Food – 10 States, United States, 2007”
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report April 11, 2008 / 57(14);366-370
Written by – Christian Nordqvist