Source: MEATINGPLACE, 4/21/17



Campylobacter caused the most reported bacterial foodborne illnesses in 2016, followed by salmonella and shigella, according to preliminary data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) annual FoodNet surveillance report.
Foodnet, short for the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, collects data on 15 percent of the U.S. population.
The numbers of reported illnesses by germ last year were:

Campylobacter (8,547), salmonella (8,172), shigella (2,913), shiga toxin-producing E.coli (1,845), cryptosporidium (1,816), yersinia (302), vibrio (252), listeria (127) and cyclospora (55). The infections led to 5,512 total hospitalizations and 98 deaths in 2016.

Salmonella Typhimurium declines
Salmonella Typhimurium infections, often linked to beef and poultry, decreased 18 percent in 2016 compared with the average for 2013-2015. CDC said continuing decreases in Salmonella Typhimurium may be due to regulatory action to reduce salmonella contamination in poultry and vaccination of chicken flocks by producers.

Reported yersinia, cryptosporidium and shiga toxin-producing E.coli infections rose, but the increases are likely due to newly available rapid tests that make infections easier to diagnose, rather than to a true increase in illness, CDC said. Estimated infections this year and in years past are accurate, but cannot be directly compared because totals now include results from the new tests, CDC said.

FoodNet is a collaboration of the CDC, 10 state health departments, USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the Food and Drug Administration. The surveillance area covers an estimated 49 million people in Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, Tennessee, California, Colorado and New York.

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