The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new FoodNet data today reflecting foodborne illness trends during 2016. FoodNet, short for the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network, is the surveillance strategy of the United States for nine common foodborne pathogens including Salmonella, Campylobacter, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) 0157 and non -0157, and Listeria.
The program represents a collaboration between the CDC, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA-FSIS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and state health departments, and has been in place since 1995.
The current report focuses on foodborne illness incidences from 2013-2015, with preliminary 2016 data. Major highlights from the preliminary 2016 data indicate a shift in diagnostic testing by clinical laboratories to the use of culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs). CIDTs, the report states, are commonly ordered because the tests are rapid and more user-friendly than traditional culture methods. However, this diagnostic test does not provide information about pathogen isolates, which can be used to monitor antimicrobial resistance and detect outbreaks.
The report indicates that it will be important to preserve specimens for further testing in order to gather this information in the future and observe foodborne illness trends. The preliminary data also indicated trends in pathogen detection, including an 18-percent decrease in the incidence of Salmonella typhimurium infections in 2016 as compared with 2013-2015.
A complete report, as well as associated tables and figures, may be found here.
