CDC Names Top Culprits in Foodborne Illness 2016 data now include culture-independent diagnostic testing results

Campylobacter and Salmonella were responsible for the highest number of reported bacterial foodborne-illnesses in 2016, CDC researchers said. Overall, both pathogens each caused over 8,000 infections, confirmed either via traditional method or only by culture-independent diagnostic tests. Shigella was a distant third, involved in 2,913 bacterial foodborne-illnesses in 2016, according to Ellyn Marder, MPH, and colleagues. But compared with 2013-2015, incidence of Campylobacter was significantly lower (11% decrease) when including only confirmed infections, but not significantly different when including both confirmed and those confirmed using only culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs), the authors reported in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Campylobacter (8,547) Salmonella (8,172) Shigella (2,913) STEC (1,845) Cryptosporidium (1,816) Yersinia (302) Vibrio (252) Listeria (127) Cyclospora (55) https://www.medpagetoday.com/InfectiousDisease/PublicHealth/64674?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2017-04-21&eun=g721819d0r&pos=0