June 12th, 2009

From Green Right Now Reports

Norovirus and Salmonella were the leading causes of food borne disease outbreaks in 2006, according to a report released yesterday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The report offers the most recent available information on which illnesses are linked to specific types of foods.

The foods associated with the largest number of cases in 2006 were poultry (21 percent of all outbreak-associated cases), leafy vegetables (17 percent), and fruits-nuts (16 percent). The food commodity categories defined by CDC are fish, crustaceans, mollusks, dairy, eggs, beef, game, pork, poultry, grains-beans, oils-sugars, fruits-nuts, fungi, leafy vegetables, root vegetables, sprouts, and vegetables from a vine or stalk.

There were 1,270 reported food borne disease outbreaks in 2006, which resulted in 27,634 illnesses and 11 deaths, according to the surveillance report prepared by the agency’s OutbreakNet team. Among these 1,270 outbreaks, 621 had a confirmed single cause — most often norovirus (54 percent of outbreaks), followed by Salmonella (18 percent of outbreaks). The CDC analysis was done on data from the 243 outbreaks in which a single food commodity was identified and reported to CDC.

“Determining the proportion of outbreak-associated cases of food borne illness due to the various food commodities is an important step,” Patricia M. Griffin, M.D., chief of CDC?s Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch, said in a statement. “Identification of particular food commodities that have caused outbreaks can help public health officials and the food industry to target control efforts from the farm to the table.”

However, Griffin cautions that while this report is useful, only a small proportion of food borne illnesses occur as part of recognized outbreaks. Moreover, some outbreaks are not detected, investigated, or reported because many states lack the resources to perform the work.

Food borne outbreaks of norovirus occur most often when infected food handlers do not wash their hands well after using the toilet; food borne outbreaks of Salmonella occur most often when foods that have been contaminated with animal feces are eaten raw or insufficiently cooked.

Related links:

• Full report: “Surveillance for Foodborne Disease Outbreaks – United States, 2006”
• CDC information on foodborne illness
• CDC information on Salmonella
• CDC information on E.coli
• Peanut recall trudges on, costing more than peanuts
• Hold that PB & J