ATLANTA—The new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was released this week and reveals there were 1,034 foodborne disease outbreaks in 2008 that resulted in 23,152 illnesses, 1,276 hospitalizations and 22 deaths. Norovirus and Salmonella were the leading causes of foodborne disease outbreaks in 2008.
According to the “Surveillance for Foodborne Disease Outbreaks—United States, 2008," among the 22 reported deaths, 20 were attributed to bacterial etiologies (13 Salmonella, three Listeria monocytogenes, three STEC [two O157, one O111], one Staphylococcus), one to norovirus, and one to a mycotoxin.
The report revealed that in the 218 outbreaks where one food commodity was identified the largest number of illnesses listed poultry (15%), beef (14%) and fish (14%) as the cause. Among the 7,177 illnesses in the 218 outbreaks, the food groups associated with the most illnesses were fruits and nuts (24%), vine vegetables (23%) and beef (13%).
Seventeen multistate outbreaks were reported. Nine were caused by Salmonella found in cantaloupe, cereal, ground turkey, ground white pepper, jalapeño and Serrano peppers, and peanut butter and peanut paste. Six multistate outbreaks were caused by STEC O157 from ground beef. Two multistate outbreaks were caused by Listeria in ground beef. One outbreak was caused by Listeria in Mexican-style cheese made from pasteurized milk, the other by Listeria in sprouts.
Salmonella was the most common cause of outbreak-related hospitalizations, causing 62% of hospitalizations reported, followed by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) (17%) and norovirus (7%). Outbreaks caused by Clostridium botulinum resulted in the highest proportion of persons hospitalized (90%), followed by Listeria (76%).
