CHICAGO (Reuters) - Foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States dropped by 8 percent in 2007 and illnesses fell 15 percent compared with the four years prior, but the drops more likely reflect disease patterns than improvements in food safety, U.S. health officials said on Thursday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a total of 1,097 disease outbreaks were reported in 2007. State investigators reported 21,244 illnesses and 18 deaths as a result of these outbreaks.
Norovirus, a viral infection typically spread when food workers fail to properly was after using the toilet, was the most most frequently confirmed foodborne agent, causing 39 percent of illnesses from a single source.
Salmonella bacteria, spread by animal feces, was the second most common, accounting for 27 percent.
In the 235 outbreaks where a single food was identified, poultry caused the largest number of illnesses, followed by beef and leafy vegetables.
The CDC defines a foodborne disease outbreak as the occurrence of two or more similar illnesses resulting from ingestion of a common food.
The 2007 data, published in the CDC's weekly report on death and disease, represent the most complete finalized data on foodborne illness for that year.
In April, the CDC said there have been significant reductions in foodborne-related illnesses in the past 15 years, but most of the reductions came soon after the CDC put in place the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, or Foodnet, to track specific cases in the 1990s.
Rates have been stable in more recent years, the CDC said.
In the latest report, the CDC attributed the decline in illness to an outbreak of two new norovirus strains in 2006 and early 2007. That likely resulted in increased immunity to norovirus in 2007, which may explain the drop in illnesses.
The overall drop in reported outbreaks resulted largely from a drop in the number caused by norovirus, the CDC said.
Even so, norovirus was still the chief cause of reported outbreaks and outbreak-related illness.
"The large number of norovirus foodborne outbreaks indicates a need for continued attention to preventing food contamination by food employees who come into contact with ready-to-eat foods," the CDC said in its report.
The CDC said its report likely understates the magnitude of foodborne illness in the United States since many cases of food poisoning are never reported.
In March, a coalition of consumer and public health groups said foodborne illnesses cost the United States $152 billion in health-related expenses each year.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill a year ago to reorganize the convoluted U.S. food safety system, but the Senate has yet to act, despite broad bipartisan agreement on the issue.
The CDC estimates 76 million people in the United States get sick every year from foodborne illnesses and 5,000 people die from them.
SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/xyc74n CDC's MMWR, August 12, 2010.
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