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Volume 17, Number 1—January 2011
Research

Foodborne Illness Acquired in the United States—Major Pathogens

Elaine Scallan1Comments to Author , Robert M. Hoekstra, Frederick J. Angulo, Robert V. Tauxe, Marc-Alain Widdowson, Sharon L. Roy, Jeffery L. Jones, and Patricia M. Griffin
Author affiliations: Author affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Main Article

Table 3

Estimated annual number of domestically acquired foodborne hospitalizations and deaths caused by 31 pathogens, United States*

Pathogen Estimated annual number of hospitalizations
Estimated annual number of deaths
Hospitalization rate, %† Total, 
mean (90% CrI) Domestically 
acquired foodborne, mean (90% CrI) Death 
rate, %† Total, 
mean (90% CrI) Domestically acquired foodborne, mean (90% CrI)
Bacteria
Bacillus cereus, foodborne‡ 0.4 20 (0–86) 20 (0–85) 0 0 0
Brucella spp. 55.0 132 (79–197) 55 (33–84) 0.9 2 (1–4) 1 (0–2)
Campylobacter spp. 17.1 13,240 (6,770–23,827) 8,463 (4,300–15,227) 0.1 119 (0–523) 76 (0–332)
Clostridium botulinum, foodborne‡ 82.6 42 (19–77) 42 (19–77) 17.3 9 (0–51) 9 (0–51)
Clostridium perfringens, foodborne‡ 0.6 439 (45–2,015) 438 (44–2,008) <0.1 26 (0–163) 26 (0–163)
STEC O157 46.2 3,268 (844–7,052) 2,138 (549–4,614) 0.5 31 (0–173) 20 (0–113)
STEC non-O157 12.8 405 (0–1,451) 271 (0–971) 0.3
ETEC, foodborne‡ 0.8 26 (0–119) 12 (0–53) 0 0 0
Diarrheagenic E. coli other than STEC and ETEC 0.8 26 (0–120) 8 (0–36) 0 0 0
Listeria monocytogenes 94.0 1,520 (544–3,152) 1,455 (521–3,018) 15.9 266 (0–765) 255 (0–733)
Mycobacterium bovis 55.0 108 (79–140) 31 (21–42) 4.7 9 (8–11) 3 (2–3)
Salmonella spp., nontyphoidal 27.2 23,128 (10,221–44,860) 19,336 (8,545–37,490) 0.5 452 (0–1,210) 378 (0–1,011)
S. enterica serotype Typhi 75.7 623 (0–1,848) 197 (0–583) 0 0 0
Shigella spp. 20.2 5,491 (1,100–13,741) 1,456 (287–3,695) 0.1 38 (0–254) 10 (0–67)
Staphylococcus aureus, foodborne‡ 6.4 1,067 (173–3,006) 1,064 (173–2,997) <0.1 6 (0–48) 6 (0–48)
Streptococcus spp. group A, foodborne‡ 0.2 1 (0–6) 1 (0–6) 0 0 0
Vibrio cholerae, toxigenic 43.1 7 (0–16) 2 (0–5) 0 0 0
V. vulnificus 91.3 202 (120–303) 93 (53–145) 34.8 77 (43–120) 36 (19–57)
V. parahaemolyticus 22.5 129 (66–219) 100 (50–169) 0.9 5 (0–22) 4 (0–17)
Vibrio spp., other 37.1 163 (101–240) 83 (51–124) 3.7 16 (6–36) 8 (3–19)
Yersinia enterocolitica 34.4 637 (0–1,396) 533 (0–1,173) 2.0 34 (0–206) 29 (0–173)
Subtotal

50,673 (30,578–75,466)
35,796 (21,519–53,414)


1,093 (358–2,247)
861 (260–1,761)
Parasites
Cryptosporidium spp. 25.0 2,725 (777–6,558) 210 (58–518) 0.3 46 (0–241) 4 (0–19)
Cyclospora cayetanensis 6.5 20 (0–190) 11 (0–109) 0.0 0 0
Giardia intestinalis 8.8 3,581 (2,414–4,822) 225 (141–325) 0.1 34 (18–51) 2 (1–3)
Toxoplasma gondii 2.6 8,889 (5,383–13,203) 4,428 (2,634–6,674) 0.2 656 (409–952) 327 (200–482)
Trichinella spp. 24.3 6 (0–18) 6 (0–17) 0.2 0 0
Subtotal

15,221 (10,617–20,867)
4,881 (3,060–7,146)


736 (456–1,094)
333 (205–488)
Viruses
Astrovirus 0.4 17,430 (10,203–21,573) 87 (32–147) <0.1 5 (1–9) 0
Hepatitis A virus 31.5 2,255 (1,250–3,953) 99 (42–193) 2.4 171 (94–299) 7 (3–15)
Norovirus 0.03 56,013 (32,197–86,569) 14,663 (8,097–23,323) <0.1 571 (331–881) 149 (84–237)
Rotavirus 1.7 69,721 (55,958–84,348) 348 (128–586) <0.1 32 (23–40) 0
Sapovirus 0.4 17,430 (13,990–21,087) 87 (32–147) <0.1 5 (1–9) 0
Subtotal

162,850 (130,126–199,658)
15,284 (8,719–23,962)


783 (522–1,112)
157 (91–245)
Total 228,744 (188,326–275,601) 55,961 (39,534–75,741) 2,612 (1,723–3,819) 1,351 (712–2,268)

*All estimates were based on US population in 2006. CrI, credible interval; STEC, Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli; ETEC, enterotoxigenic E. coli.
†For laboratory-confirmed illnesses. Unadjusted hospitalization and death rates are presented. These rates were doubled to adjust for underdiagnosis before being applied to the number of laboratory-confirmed cases to estimate the total number of hospitalizations and deaths. The hospitalization and death rates for astrovirus, norovirus, rotavirus, and sapovirus are the percent of total estimated illness and were not subject to further adjustment.
‡Estimates based on the number of foodborne illnesses ascertained in surveillance and therefore assumed to reflect only foodborne transmission.
§We report median values instead of means for the distributions of deaths caused by STEC non-O157 because of extremely skewed data.

Main Article

1Current affiliation: Colorado School of Public Health, Aurora, Colorado, USA.

Page created: December 20, 2011
Page updated: December 20, 2011
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The conclusions, findings, and opinions expressed by authors contributing to this journal do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Public Health Service, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the authors' affiliated institutions. Use of trade names is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by any of the groups named above.
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