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Campylobacter and Salmonella caused the most reported bacterial foodborne illnesses in 2016, according to preliminary data published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
FoodNet collects data on 15 percent of the U.S. population. FoodNet sites alone reported 24,029 foodborne infections, 5,512 hospitalizations, and 98 deaths in 2016. The numbers of reported illnesses by germ are: 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). This is the first time the report also includes in the total number of infections those foodborne bacterial infections diagnosed only by rapid diagnostic tests in FoodNet sites. Previously, the report counted foodborne bacterial infections confirmed only by traditional culture-based methods in the total numbers.
Salmonella Typhimurium infections, often linked to beef and poultry, decreased 18 percent in 2016 compared with the average for 2013-2015. The 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 increased. These increases are likely due to newly available rapid tests that make infections easier to diagnose, rather than to a true increase in illness.
The new data reflect the increasing popularity of rapid tests known as culture-independent diagnostic tests, or CIDTs. These faster tests can have immediate benefits for treatment, but do not collect information needed to determine if an infection is antibiotic-resistant or if it is linked to an outbreak. Positive results on rapid tests can be followed up by culture-based tests to get detailed data, but often are not, according to the report.
Thursday April 20, 2017/ CDC/ United States.
https://www.cdc.gov
