Highlights from the 2017 Surveillance Report

When two or more people become ill from eating the same contaminated food or drink, the event is called a foodborne disease outbreak.

Outbreaks are caused by pathogens, which include germs (bacteria, viruses, and parasites), chemicals, and toxins. Although most foodborne illnesses are not part of a recognized outbreak, outbreaks provide important insights into how pathogens are spread, which food and pathogen combinations make people sick, and how to prevent foodborne illnesses.

Each year, CDC summarizes foodborne disease outbreak data in an annual surveillance report and makes the data available to the public through the NORS Dashboard.