Foodborne illness declines in Australia

Higher temperatures has been shown to increase the incidence of gastrointestinal infections:

 Foodborne illness has declined 17% overall in Australia but the number of Salmonella and Campylobacter cases has risen, every 1°C above the mean of the previous month rise in temperature sustained over 8 days.

Australian National University research tracked changes between 2000 and 2010. Findings should assist policy makers to improve regulation and control of foodborne disease for specific pathogens, said the researchers. Increased temperature has been shown to increase the incidence of gastrointestinal infections: a 2.48% increased risk of gastroenteritis has been demonstrated for every 1°C above the mean of the previous month rise in temperature sustained over 8 days.

Foodborne illness caused an estimated 4.1 million illnesses, 30,600 hospitalizations, and 60 deaths in 2010. The figure for illnesses circa 2000 was 4.3 million.

Millions of cases unidentified causes: Of the total illnesses 0.8 million were caused by 18 pathogens but the remaining 3.3 million had unknown or unidentified causes. The rate of foodborne campylobacteriosis was 13% higher in 2010 than 2000 and salmonellosis was 24% higher in the same period.

Pathogenic E.coli, Norovirus, Campylobacter and non-typhoidal Salmonella were responsible for 93% of the foodborne illnesses caused by known pathogens.

Contaminated food also caused 5,140 cases of non-gastrointestinal illness circa 2010.   Toxoplasmosis was the most common foodborne non-gastrointestinal illness with 3,750 cases each year. Listeria monocytogenes and non-typhoidal Salmonella infections were the leading causes of death.

In Australia from 2006 onward, the number of raw egg–associated salmonellosis outbreaks has markedly increased and since 2000, the numbers of notified laboratory-confirmed cases of campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis have increased,” said the researchers.

Estimates of Rotavirus cases for circa 2010 were lower than those for circa 2000, reflecting the success of the vaccination program. Also, the estimated number of foodborne illness cases caused by Hepatitis A virus declined from 150 cases/year to 40 cases/year circa 2010, reflecting improved disease control through vaccination.

Refined methods: The researchers said methods to calculate estimates were refined and in the intervening years, surveillance has improved and data availability has increased. Underreporting multipliers were used to estimate the community incidence of foodborne illness for infected people who did not seek treatment or submit specimens for testing.

Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases, volume 20, Number 11 – November 2014:

 Foodborne illness has declined 17% overall in Australia but the number of Salmonella and Campylobacter cases has risen, every 1°C above the mean of the previous month rise in temperature sustained over 8 days.

Australian National University research tracked changes between 2000 and 2010. Findings should assist policy makers to improve regulation and control of foodborne disease for specific pathogens, said the researchers. Increased temperature has been shown to increase the incidence of gastrointestinal infections: a 2.48% increased risk of gastroenteritis has been demonstrated for every 1°C above the mean of the previous month rise in temperature sustained over 8 days.

Foodborne illness caused an estimated 4.1 million illnesses, 30,600 hospitalizations, and 60 deaths in 2010. The figure for illnesses circa 2000 was 4.3 million.

Millions of cases unidentified causes: Of the total illnesses 0.8 million were caused by 18 pathogens but the remaining 3.3 million had unknown or unidentified causes. The rate of foodborne campylobacteriosis was 13% higher in 2010 than 2000 and salmonellosis was 24% higher in the same period.

Pathogenic E.coli, Norovirus, Campylobacter and non-typhoidal Salmonella were responsible for 93% of the foodborne illnesses caused by known pathogens.

Contaminated food also caused 5,140 cases of non-gastrointestinal illness circa 2010.   Toxoplasmosis was the most common foodborne non-gastrointestinal illness with 3,750 cases each year. Listeria monocytogenes and non-typhoidal Salmonella infections were the leading causes of death.

In Australia from 2006 onward, the number of raw egg–associated salmonellosis outbreaks has markedly increased and since 2000, the numbers of notified laboratory-confirmed cases of campylobacteriosis and salmonellosis have also increased,

Estimates of Rotavirus cases for circa 2010 were lower than those for circa 2000, reflecting the success of the vaccination program. Also, the estimated number of foodborne illness cases caused by Hepatitis A virus declined from 150 cases/year to 40 cases/year circa 2010, reflecting improved disease control through vaccination.

Refined methods: The researchers said methods to calculate estimates were refined and in the intervening years, surveillance has improved and data availability has increased. Underreporting multipliers were used to estimate the community incidence of foodborne illness for infected people who did not seek treatment or submit specimens for testing.

Source: Emerging Infectious Diseases, volume 20, Number 11 – November 2014