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Multistate outbreaks cause more than half of foodborne disease deaths
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Despite accounting for only 3% of reported outbreaks in the United States, multistate outbreaks caused 56% of deaths in foodborne disease outbreaks between 2010 and 2014, according to data released today by the CDC.
“Here are the facts: Every year about one in six Americans gets sick from eating contaminated food,” Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the CDC, said during a telebriefing. “CDC’s disease detectives are finding an increasing number of outbreaks that occur in many states at once. On average, we find about two per month. These multistate foodborne outbreaks can be big, and they can be lethal.”
Thomas Frieden
Samuel J. Crowe, PhD, from the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service, and colleagues used data from the CDC’s Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System to analyze multistate foodborne outbreaks from 2010 to 2014. They were defined as two or more cases of a similar illness caused by eating the same food.
“In 2014, our lead detectives, working together with state and local governments, with the FDA and [Department of Agriculture], uncovered a listeria outbreak linked to caramel apples that made 35 people sick in 12 states. Tragically, seven people died,” Frieden said. “CDC is now working with other public health agencies tracking the Salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 750 people in 36 states and sadly four, so far, have died. This outbreak, which is linked to cucumbers imported from Mexico, is one of the biggest multistate foodborne outbreaks we’ve investigated in the past decade.”
The researchers found that these multistate outbreaks accounted for 120 of 4,163 (3%) outbreaks, but were responsible for 11% of illnesses, 34% of hospitalizations and 56% of deaths associated with foodborne outbreaks. Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli and Listeria monocytogenes caused 91% of multistate outbreaks and contaminated widely distributed foods, such as beef, chicken, fresh fruits and vegetables.
“One reason we’re finding more outbreaks is because our laboratory methods for finding them are getting better,” Frieden said. “We’re finding more Listeria outbreaks, solving them quicker, and getting contaminated food off the shelf faster. Still, too many outbreaks go unsolved. And, that’s the case because it’s often hard to determine quickly what food is linked to an outbreak and where the contamination occurred.” – by Will Offit
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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