Factors Contributing to Decline in Foodborne Disease Outbreak Reports, United States

Abstract Early in a foodborne disease outbreak investigation, illness incubation periods can help focus case interviews, case definitions, clinical and environmental evaluations and predict an aetiology. Data describing incubation periods are limited. We examined foodborne disease outbreaks from laboratory-confirmed, single aetiology, enteric bacterial and viral pathogens reported to United States foodborne disease outbreak surveillance from 1998–2013. We grouped pathogens by clinical presentation and analysed the reported median incubation period among all illnesses from the implicated pathogen for each outbreak as the outbreak incubation period. Outbreaks from preformed bacterial toxins (Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Clostridium perfringens) had the shortest outbreak incubation periods (4–10 h medians), distinct from that of Vibrio parahaemolyticus (17 h median). Norovirus, salmonella and shigella had longer but similar outbreak incubation periods (32–45 h medians); campylobacter and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli had the longest among bacteria (62–87 h medians); hepatitis A had the longest overall (672 h median). Our results can help guide diagnostic and investigative strategies early in an outbreak investigation to suggest or rule out specific etiologies or, when the pathogen is known, the likely timeframe for exposure. They also point to possible differences in pathogenesis among pathogens causing broadly similar syndromes.

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Noninfectious Foodborne Exposures Reported to 2 National Reporting Systems, United States, 2000-2010

Public Health Reports ◽

10.1177/0033354919862690 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 134 (5) ◽

pp. 552-558

Author(s):

Royal Kai Yee Law ◽

Hannah Kisselburgh ◽

Douglas Roblin ◽

Ekta Choudhary ◽

Joshua Schier ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

Logistic Regression ◽

The United States ◽

Disease Outbreak ◽

Multivariable Logistic Regression Analysis ◽

Poison Center ◽

Surveillance Systems ◽

Foodborne Disease ◽

Multivariable Logistic Regression

Objectives: Foodborne disease is a pervasive problem caused by consuming food or drink contaminated by infectious or noninfectious agents. The 55 US poison centers receive telephone calls for advice on foodborne disease cases that may be related to a foodborne disease outbreak (FBDO). Our objective was to assess whether poison center call records uploaded to the National Poison Data System (NPDS) can be used for surveillance of noninfectious FBDOs in the United States. Methods: We matched NPDS records on noninfectious FBDO agents in the United States with records in the Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System (FDOSS) for 2000-2010. We conducted multivariable logistic regression analysis comparing NPDS matched and unmatched records to assess features of NPDS records that may indicate a confirmed noninfectious FBDO. Results: During 2000-2010, FDOSS recorded 491 noninfectious FBDOs of known etiology and NPDS recorded 8773 calls for noninfectious foodborne disease exposures. Of 8773 NPDS calls, 469 (5.3%) were matched to a noninfectious FBDO reported to FDOSS. Multivariable logistic regression indicated severity of medical outcome, whether the call was made by a health care professional, and etiology as significant predictors of NPDS records matching an FDOSS noninfectious FBDO. Conclusions: NPDS may complement existing surveillance systems and response activities by providing timely information about single cases of foodborne diseases or about a known or emerging FBDO. Prioritizing NPDS records by certain call features could help guide public health departments in the types of noninfectious foodborne records that most warrant public health follow-up.

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The Economic Impact of a Foodborne Disease Outbreak Due to Staphylococcus aureus

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x-51.11.898 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 51 (11) ◽

pp. 898-900 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

P. SUDHAKAR ◽

R. NAGESWARA RAO ◽

RAMESH V. BHAT ◽

C. P. GUPTA

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Staphylococcus Aureus ◽

Productivity Loss ◽

Economic Cost ◽

The United States ◽

Disease Outbreak ◽

Foodborne Disease ◽

Laboratory Investigations ◽

The Cost ◽

Very High

The economic cost of a Staphylococcus aureus outbreak involving over 100 persons was estimated. About 41% of the expenditure was borne by the affected persons which includes, loss of wages or productivity loss and other expenses. The cost of hospitalization, laboratory investigations, etc., was 43%. Educative and preventive measures would considerably reduce the economic cost of the outbreaks which are very high for a developing economy. A comparison of the economic cost calculated on the basis of percent of per capita income with that of a similar outbreak in the United States indicated that the cost of a foodborne disease outbreak is higher in India than in the United States.

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Food recalls associated with foodborne disease outbreaks, United States, 2006–2016

Epidemiology and Infection ◽

10.1017/s0950268821001722 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-24

Author(s):

Qihua Qiu ◽

Daniel Dewey-Mattia ◽

Sanjana Subramhanya ◽

Zhaohui Cui ◽

Patricia M. Griffin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Disease Outbreaks ◽

Foodborne Disease ◽

Food Recalls

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A foodborne disease outbreak in man due to fish consumption possibly containing phycotoxins in Bombay, India

JSM Mycotoxins ◽

10.2520/myco1975.1988.28_37 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 1988 (28) ◽

pp. 37-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

R.V. BHAT ◽

S. GAUTAMI ◽

R. B. SASHIDAR ◽

A. G. LAKHANI

Keyword(s):

Fish Consumption ◽

Disease Outbreak ◽

Foodborne Disease

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Legionnaires' Disease Outbreak at a Resort in Cozumel, Mexico

Open Forum Infectious Diseases ◽

10.1093/ofid/ofw170 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 3 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Lee M. Hampton ◽

Laurel Garrison ◽

Jessica Kattan ◽

Ellen Brown ◽

Natalia A. Kozak-Muiznieks ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Potable Water ◽

Water System ◽

Disease Outbreak ◽

Community Acquired Pneumonia ◽

Health Departments ◽

Medical Providers ◽

Cozumel Island ◽

European Working ◽

Legionnaires Disease

Abstract Background. A Legionnaires' disease (LD) outbreak at a resort on Cozumel Island in Mexico was investigated by a joint Mexico-United States team in 2010. This is the first reported LD outbreak in Mexico, where LD is not a reportable disease. Methods. Reports of LD among travelers were solicited from US health departments and the European Working Group for Legionella Infections. Records from the resort and Cozumel Island health facilities were searched for possible LD cases. In April 2010, the resort was searched for possible Legionella exposure sources. The temperature and total chlorine of the water at 38 sites in the resort were measured, and samples from those sites were tested for Legionella. Results. Nine travelers became ill with laboratory-confirmed LD within 2 weeks of staying at the resort between May 2008 and April 2010. The resort and its potable water system were the only common exposures. No possible LD cases were identified among resort workers. Legionellae were found to have extensively colonized the resort's potable water system. Legionellae matching a case isolate were found in the resort's potable water system. Conclusions. Medical providers should test for LD when treating community-acquired pneumonia that is severe or affecting patients who traveled in the 2 weeks before the onset of symptoms. When an LD outbreak is detected, the source should be identified and then aggressively remediated. Because LD can occur in tropical and temperate areas, all countries should consider making LD a reportable disease if they have not already done so.

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First Report of Potato spindle tuber viroid Naturally Infecting Field Tomatoes in the Dominican Republic

Plant Disease ◽

10.1094/pdis-09-13-0992-pdn ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 98 (5) ◽

pp. 701-701

Author(s):

K.-S. Ling ◽

R. Li ◽

D. Groth-Helms ◽

F. M. Assis-Filho

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Dominican Republic ◽

Mosaic Virus ◽

Potato Spindle Tuber Viroid ◽

The United States ◽

Disease Outbreak ◽

Ringspot Virus ◽

Rt Pcr ◽

Spot Virus ◽

Three Samples

In recent years, viroid disease outbreaks have resulted in serious economic losses to a number of tomato growers in North America (1,2,3). At least three pospiviroids have been identified as the causal agents of tomato disease, including Potato spindle tuber viroid (PSTVd), Tomato chlorotic dwarf viroid (TCDVd), and Mexican papita viroid (MPVd). In the spring of 2013, a severe disease outbreak with virus-like symptoms (chlorosis and plant stunting) was observed in a tomato field located in the Dominican Republic, whose tomato production is generally exported to the United States in the winter months. The transplants were produced in house. The disease has reached an epidemic level with many diseased plants pulled and disposed of accordingly. Three samples collected in May of 2013 were screened by ELISA against 16 common tomato viruses (Alfalfa mosaic virus, Cucumber mosaic virus, Impatiens necrotic spot virus, Pepino mosaic virus, Potato virus X, Potato virus Y, Tobacco etch virus, Tobacco mosaic virus, Tobacco ringspot virus, Tomato aspermy virus, Tomato bushy stunt virus, Tomato mosaic virus, Tomato ringspot virus, Tomato spotted wilt virus, Groundnut ringspot virus, and Tomato chlorotic spot virus), a virus group (Potyvirus group), three bacteria (Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis, Pectobacterium atrosepticum, and Xanthomonas spp.), and Phytophthora spp. No positive result was observed, despite the presence of symptoms typical of a viral-like disease. Further analysis by RT-PCR using Agdia's proprietary pospiviroid group-specific primer resulted in positive reactions in all three samples. To determine which species of pospiviroid was present in these tomato samples, full-genomic products of the expected size (~360 bp) were amplified by RT-PCR using specific primers for PSTVd (4) and cloned using TOPO-TA cloning kit (Invitrogen, CA). A total of 8 to 10 clones from each isolate were selected for sequencing. Sequences from each clone were nearly identical and the predominant sequence DR13-01 was deposited in GenBank (Accession No. KF683200). BLASTn searches into the NCBI database demonstrated that isolate DR13-01 shared 97% sequence identity to PSTVd isolates identified in wild Solanum (U51895), cape gooseberry (EU862231), or pepper (AY532803), and 96% identity to the tomato-infecting PSTVd isolate from the United States (JX280944). The relatively lower genome sequence identity (96%) to the tomato-infecting PSTVd isolate in the United States (JX280944) suggests that PSTVd from the Dominican Republic was likely introduced from a different source, although the exact source that resulted in the current disease outbreak remains unknown. It may be the result of an inadvertent introduction of contaminated tomato seed lots or simply from local wild plants. Further investigation is necessary to determine the likely source and route of introduction of PSTVd identified in the current epidemic. Thus, proper control measures could be recommended for disease management. The detection of this viroid disease outbreak in the Dominican Republic represents further geographic expansion of the viroid disease in tomatoes beyond North America. References: (1). K.-S. Ling and M. Bledsoe. Plant Dis. 93:839, 2009. (2) K.-S. Ling and W. Zhang. Plant Dis. 93:1216, 2009. (3) K.-S. Ling et al. Plant Dis. 93:1075, 2009. (4) A. M. Shamloul et al. Can. J. Plant Pathol. 19:89, 1997.

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Foods implicated in U.S. outbreaks differ from the types most commonly consumed

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/jfp-20-293 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

LaTonia C Richardson ◽

Dana Cole ◽

R Michael Hoekstra ◽

Anangu Rajasingham ◽

Shacara D Johnson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

General Population ◽

Food Consumption ◽

Lower Risk ◽

Disease Outbreak ◽

Foodborne Disease ◽

Outbreak Investigations ◽

Chicken Eggs ◽

The U.S

Foodborne disease outbreak investigations identify foods responsible for illnesses. However, it is not known the degree to which foods implicated in outbreaks reflect the distribution of food consumption in the U.S. population or the risk associated with their consumption. To examine this, we compared the distribution of foods in 24 categories implicated in outbreaks to the distribution of foods consumed by the U.S. population. Beef, chicken, eggs, fish, herbs, mollusks, pork, sprouts, seeded vegetables, and turkey were implicated in outbreaks significantly more often than expected based on the frequency of their consumption in the general population, suggesting a higher risk of contamination or mishandling from foods in these categories than in others. In contrast, pasteurized dairy, fruits, grains-beans, oils and sugars, and root/underground vegetables were less frequently implicated in outbreaks than they were consumed in the general population, suggesting a lower risk for these food categories.

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The Minnesota Program for Prevention of Foodborne Illness: An Evaluation

Journal of Food Protection ◽

10.4315/0362-028x-41.7.556 ◽

1978 ◽

Vol 41 (7) ◽

pp. 556-558 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

THOMAS L. HEENAN ◽

OSCAR P. SNYDER

Keyword(s):

Quality Assurance ◽

Education Program ◽

Disease Outbreak ◽

Foodborne Illness ◽

Quality Assurance Program ◽

Foodborne Disease ◽

Course Content ◽

Illness Prevention ◽

Program Requirement

The Minnesota Quality Assurance Program for the Prevention of Foodborne Illness is a voluntarily attended, statewide education program to train foodservice owners. operators and managers in the methods of foodborne illness prevention. The education is conducted in 1-day seminars by trained sanitarians and foodservice personnel. It prepares the student to write a Quality Assurance (QA) program for his/her establishment to assure that there is no possibility of a foodborne disease outbreak. Certification is based on the approval of the Quality Assurance program. An evaluation after 9 months of operation indicates that most instructors performed adequately. Course content, including microbiological training, was well received. The QA written program requirement was supported by both instructors and students. Students strongly supported a recommendation that the QA document he mandatory for all foodservices and used as the basis for regulatory inspections.

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