Foodborne Illness, Australia, Circa 2000 and Circa 2010 - Volume 20, Number 11—November 2014 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

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Foodborne Illness, Australia, Circa 2000 and Circa 2010 - Volume 20, Number 11—November 2014 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal - CDC

Volume 20, Number 11—November 2014

Research

Foodborne Illness, Australia, Circa 2000 and Circa 2010

On This Page

• Methods
• Results
• Discussion
• Suggested Citation

Tables

• Table 1
• Table 2
• Table 3
• Table 4

Technical Appendicies

• Technical Appendix 1
• Technical Appendix 2
• Technical Appendix 3
• Technical Appendix 4
• Technical Appendix 5

Downloads

• PDF[432 KB - 8 pgs]

Martyn Kirk , Laura Ford, Kathryn Glass, and Gillian Hall

Author affiliations: Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Suggested citation for this article

Abstract

Foodborne disease is a major public health problem worldwide. To examine changes in foodborne illness in Australia, we estimated the incidence, hospitalizations, and deaths attributed to contaminated food circa 2010 and recalculated estimates from circa 2000. Approximately 25% of gastroenteritis cases were caused by contaminated food; to account for uncertainty we used simulation techniques to estimate 90% credible intervals. We estimate that circa 2010, 4.1 million foodborne gastroenteritis cases occurred, and circa 2000, 4.3 million cases occurred. Circa 2010, contaminated food was estimated to be responsible for 30,840 gastroenteritis-associated hospitalizations, 76 associated deaths, and 5,140 nongastrointestinal illnesses. Cases of salmonellosis and campylobacteriosis increased from 2000 to 2010 and were the leading causes of gastroenteritis-associated hospitalizations; Listeria monocytogenes and nontyphoidal Salmonella spp. infections were the leading causes of death. Although the overall incidence of foodborne illnesses declined over time in Australia, cases of foodborne gastroenteritis are still common.

Foodborne illness is a major public health problem and a common cause of illness and death worldwide. Outbreaks linked to contaminated food can affect the public’s trust and financially harm implicated businesses and associated food industries. Estimates of the effects of foodborne illnesses and individual pathogens provide evidence for policy interventions and food safety regulation. In addition, estimates of changes in the incidence of foodborne illnesses and hospitalizations over time provide information on the effectiveness of changes to food safety standards and regulation.

Many agents can cause foodborne illness; some of these agents are transmitted to humans by other routes as well as by food. Most foodborne illnesses manifest as gastroenteritis, but other presentations, such as meningitis and hepatitis may also result from infection, and sequelae may occur weeks after the acute infection.

Many countries have estimated the incidence of foodborne diseases (1–5). In Australia in 2000, foodborne incidence, hospitalizations, and deaths were estimated to cost 1.25 billion Australian dollars annually (6,7). However, since 2000, surveillance has substantially improved, data availability has increased, and methods have been refined. To inform current public health decisions and policies in Australia, we used new methods and datasets to estimate the incidence of infectious gastroenteritis and associated hospitalizations and deaths in Australia circa 2010. We then applied these refined methods to circa 2000 data so that estimates from the 2 periods could be directly compared.

Dr Kirk is Head of the Master of Philosophy in Applied Epidemiology program—Australia’s Field Epidemiology Training Program—and an associate professor at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University. His research interests include foodborne and waterborne diseases, particularly those affecting vulnerable population groups.

Acknowledgments

We thank John Bates, Kathryn Brown, Duncan Craig, Margaret Curran, Patricia Desmarchelier, Gerard Fitzsimmons, Katie Fullerton, Joy Gregory, David Jordan, Tony Merritt, Jennie Musto, Nevada Pingault, Jane Raupach, Craig Shadbolt, Lisa Szabo, Hassan Vally, Mark Veitch, and Stephanie Williams for assistance with this study. We also thank Martha Sinclair for providing us with additional data from the Melbourne Water Quality Study and the OzFoodNet network, public health laboratories, and health department staff in Australia for the robust collection of data on foodborne diseases.

This project was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Food Standards Australia New Zealand and New South Wales Food Authority.

References

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Tables

• Table 1. Estimated number of gastroenteritis cases caused by domestically acquired pathogens, Australia, circa 2010
• Table 2. Estimated number of acute foodborne illness cases caused by domestically acquired pathogens and agents that do not result in gastroenteritis, Australia, circa 2010
• Table 3. Comparison of estimates of the annual number of cases and incidence rates for foodborne gastroenteritis and key foodborne pathogens, Australia, circa 2000 and circa 2010
• Table 4. Estimated annual number of hospitalizations and deaths resulting from domestically acquired foodborne pathogens, parasites, and diseases, Australia, circa 2010

Technical Appendices

• Technical Appendix 1. Data sources for estimates of foodborne illness in Australia, circa 2000 and circa 2010.  31 KB
• Technical Appendix 2. Methods for calculating the incidence of foodborne illnesses in the community circa 2010 and for comparing those estimates with circa 2000 estimates, Australia.  232 KB
• Technical Appendix 3. Methods used to estimate hospitalizations and deaths due to foodborne illnesses, Australia, circa 2000 and circa 2010.  125 KB
• Technical Appendix 4. Pathogen and illness sheets for foodborne illnesses, Australia, circa 2000 and circa 2010.  192 KB
• Technical Appendix 5. Median numbers of gastroenteritis and nongastrointestinal illness cases caused by all domestically acquired pathogens and by domestically acquired foodborne pathogens, Australia, circa 2010.  19 KB

Suggested citation for this article: Kirk M, Ford L, Glass K, Hall G. Foodborne illness, Australia, circa 2000 and circa 2010. Emerg Infect Dis. 2014 Nov [Date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2011.131315

DOI: 10.3201/eid2011.131315