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CDC: Slow progress against foodborne pathogens
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Despite efforts to make food safer, the percentage of people with foodborne infections has remained largely unchanged during the past decade, researchers reported in MMWR.
“We estimate that each year, one in six people in the United States gets sick from eating contaminated food,” Patricia M. Griffin, MD, MPH, chief of the CDC’s Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch, said during a CDC telebriefing. “Today’s MMWR report summarizes 2014 data. The news is mixed: some infections declined, but others increased, and most did not change. Targeted prevention efforts and continued close monitoring of foodborne illness is key.”
The CDC utilizes the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) — a collaboration with the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS), the FDA and 10 state health departments — to monitor 10 geographic areas for foodborne infections caused by nine pathogens, Griffin said. This covers about 15% of the U.S. population.
Patricia M. Griffin
In 2014, FoodNet identified 19,542 infections, 4,445 hospitalizations and 71 deaths due to these pathogens. Salmonella was the most common, with nearly 7,500 infections, or an incidence of 15.45 per 100,000 population, followed by Campylobacter, with nearly 6,500 infections, or 13.45 per 100,000 population, Griffin and colleagues wrote.
Salmonella also required the most hospitalizations (2,141) and caused the most deaths (30) among foodborne pathogens, although Listeria had the greatest percentage of deaths (15.3%) per infection. Other foodborne pathogens in the study included Escherichia coli, Shigella, Yersinia, Cryptosporidium and Cyclospora.
According to the researchers, Shiga toxin–producing E. coli O157 infections decreased 32% (95% CI, 18%-43%) in 2014 compared with 2006-2008, and Yersinia infections decreased 22% (95% CI, 1%-39%). Vibrio infections increased by 52% (95%, CI, 22%-89%), and Campylobacter infections grew by 13% (95% CI, 5%-21%). Infections with Salmonella serotypes Infantis and Javiana increased 162% (95% CI, 100%-244%) and 131% (95% CI, 83%-191%), respectively. Salmonella Typhimurium decreased 27% (95% CI, 18%-35%) in 2014 compared with 2006-2008. However, overall infection rates for the six most common Salmonella serotypes were not significantly changed.
“I think it’s worth thinking about the implications of the good news that E. coli 157 and Salmonella Typhimurium infections have decreased,” Griffin said. “The most obvious implication is that fewer people are getting sick with these organisms. Another important implication is that success in reducing foodborne illness is possible. For E. coli 157, success was achieved mainly because USDA and industry implemented interventions to decrease contamination of ground beef.”
According to the researchers, other existing efforts, including the USDA-FSIS tightening of Salmonella standards on poultry carcasses, and those being proposed, including FDA plans to publish regulations for safer produce, processed foods and more as part of the Food Safety Modernization Act, may make a difference.
“The Food Safety Modernization Act addresses prevention, which is so critical here, of foodborne illness across the board,” Kathleen F. Gensheimer, MD, MPH, chief medical officer, FDA outbreak director, and Infectious Disease News Editorial Board member, said during the telebriefing. “Even foods not previously implicated in outbreaks need to be covered because we never know when that first outbreak will happen, nor do we always appreciate or understand what the next microbial niche will be in our food safety supply.
“The recent outbreak of Listeria monocytogenes attributed to caramel apples that we all saw … last fall and into the winter is certainly a good example of a new emerging entity.”
Gensheimer said the FDA is scheduled to issue final rules of the FSMA this summer. They will address produce safety, preventive controls for food-producing facilities, and safety of imported foods. – by David Jwanier
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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