Cyclospora Picking Up Rear In Food-borne Illnesses Study
The FoodNet system gives a close up count on food-borne illnesses in states that contain about 45 million people or about 15 percent of the U.S. population. The data on laboratory-confirmed cases of food-borne illnesses provides a way of comparing the incidents of one type of illness to another.
FoodNet shows Cyclospora is clearing bring up the rear when it comes to food-borne illnesses in the covered states of Connecticut, Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, Oregon, and Tennessee, plus parts of California, Colorado, and New York.
Here's how it stacks up according to the Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota:
A total of 17,883 foodborne infections were reported in 2007, up slightly from the 17,252 reported in 2006, according to the full FoodNet report published today in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Salmonella led the list, with 6,790 confirmed cases (38% of the total), or 14.92 cases per 100,000 population. Case totals and rates per 100,000 population for the other pathogens were: Campylobacter, 5,818, 12.79; Shigella, 2,848, 6.26; Cryptosporidium, 1,216, 2.67; E coli O157:H7, 545, 1.20; Shiga toxin–producing E coli (STEC) non-O157:H7, 260, 0.57; Yersinia, 163, 0.36; Listeria, 122, 0.27; Vibrio, 108, 0.24; and Cyclospora, 13, 0.03.
Yes, that's 13 cases of Cyclospora for a rate of 0.03 per 100,000. People returning from third world countries are usually said to be most at risk of Cyclospora. And, as we learned a decade ago, all it takes for an large Cyclospora outbreak in the U.S. is to import the wrong berries from the wrong place.
