CDC: E. coli illnesses on decline, but other infections increasing

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CDC: E. coli illnesses on decline, but other foodborne infections increasing By

Lyndsey Layton Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, April 15, 2010; 4:45 PM

Efforts to reduce illnesses caused by one of the most dangerous foodborne

bacteria, E. coli O157:H7, appear to be paying off, the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention reported Thursday, but sickness caused by other pathogens

is rising.

Preliminary data released by the CDC showed a 2009 drop in the incidence of

infections from E. coli O157:H7, which can be lethal and is most commonly

associated with ground beef but has also been detected in leafy greens and raw

cookie dough. E. coli infections were the lowest since 2004, the agency said.

But there was little or no recent progress for other pathogens, according to the

data. Infections from salmonella, the most common cause of foodborne illness in

the United States, decreased slightly in 2009but remain above the goals set by

the government. The report also detailed increases last year in illnesses from

campylobacter, listeria, vibrio and cryptosporidium.

" There is more work to do, " said Goldman of the Department of

Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. " In particular, salmonella

remains a challenge. We have not been as successful in moving the trend line in

the right direction. "

Goldman credited the decrease in the E. coli infection rate to expanded testing

in slaughterhouses last year and a renewed effort by USDA inspectors to flag

sanitary problems.

The CDC has been collecting data since 1996 on people in 10 states with

infections caused by eight bacteria and two parasites found in food.

The annual survey, published in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report,

documented a modest increase in the incidence of infection from listeria, which

is associated with ready-to-eat meat and poultry products and unpasteurized

cheeses. If contracted by a pregnant woman, listeria infection usually results

in a miscarriage or stillbirth.

The report also highlighted a spike in illnesses caused by vibrio, which is

often traced to raw oysters and shellfish. Illnesses from vibrio in 2009 were 85

percent higher than the annual average between 1996 and 1998. Public health

officials said they were puzzled by the jump in such illnesses and suggested the

problem may stem from insufficient refrigeration of shellfish after harvest.

The Food and Drug Administration wants to require pasteurization for oysters

harvested from the Gulf of Mexico during warm-water months, to destroy one type

of particularly virulent vibrio bacteria, but the oyster industry has fought

such regulation. The issue is still under discussion, said Kramer, deputy

director of the agency's Office of Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.

Legislation pending in the Senate is designed to significantly beef up the FDA's

authority to require food processors, farmers and fishermen to minimize the

risks of contamination.

The CDC tracks foodborne outbreaks primarily through two networks, called

FoodNet and PulseNet. FoodNet uses hospital records and microbial-testing

programs to trace the spread of pathogens, while PulseNet uses genetic

fingerprinting to link cases of illness.

In the past, outbreaks were usually identified after a number of people who had

eaten in the same restaurant or fast-food chain got sick. PulseNet, which

contains microbial genetic data from public health labs across the country,

allows scientists to link isolated sicknesses that arise from the same product.

Children younger than 4 are particularly vulnerable to foodborne bacteria, while

adults older than 50 are the most likely to be hospitalized and die from

bacterial exposure, health officials said.

The CDC estimates that foodborne diseases cause approximately 76 million

illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths in the United States each

year. But Goldman acknowledged Thursday that those figures may be out of date.

They were generated in 1999. The agency is working on updated data, he said.

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