Food Outbreaks in the U.S.
Find out what recent food outbreaks have happened in the U.S. Read about an outbreak from 3 different bacteria:
- coli: http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/2013/O157H7-11-13/index.html
- Salmonella: http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/dog-food-05-12/index.html
- Listeria: http://www.cdc.gov/listeria/outbreaks/ice-cream-03-15/index.html
After you have read about the 3 outbreaks, fill out all 3 corresponding tables.
| E. coli (Ready-to-Eat Salads) | |
| When did people start getting sick? | |
| How many ill/dead/hospitalized? | According to CDC, there are approximately 76 million illnesses; 325,000 hospitalizations; and 5,000 deaths every year due to naturally occurring foodborne illnesses in the United States (Mead et al.1999). Exact numbers of food borne-illness are usually unknown because many people just wait for their symptoms to go away and do not go to see a doctor. Even if someone seeks professional medical advice, the health professional may not link the case to a foodborne illness and may not report it to the local health department. The estimated annual costs for medical treatment and lost productivity due to naturally occurring foodborne illnesses range from $7 to $37 billion. |
| What states were affected and how many people from each state? | . The reported age range for the infected state according to cdc.org/salmonella are: Alabama (2), Arkansas (2), California (3), Connecticut (2), Georgia (2), Illinois (4), Indiana (1), Kentucky (1), Michigan (2), Minnesota (1), Missouri (3), New Jersey (2), New York (5), North Carolina (5), Ohio (3), Oklahoma (1), Pennsylvania (3), South Carolina (2), Texas (1), and Virginia (2). |
| What are their demographics (range of age, median age, percentage by sex)? | The CDC reports that in 2012, a total of 47 persons in 20 states and two from Canada which make the total number of people 49 reported being ill with salmonella. The reported dates when the persons became ill are between March 2012 and May 2012Among the 24 patients with available information, 10 (42%) were hospitalized. No deaths have been reported (cdc.org). In May of 2012 year, the Ohio Dept. of Agriculture inspected the hatchery, and made recommendations for improvement.
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| What were the name of the salads? | |
| What companies were affected? | |
| When was the recall? | |
| Salmonella (Dry Dog Food) | |
| When did public official first detect the issue? | |
| How many ill/dead/hospitalized? | |
| What states were these people from? | |
| What was the source of the outbreak and where was it produced? | |
| How did public health officials determine that people were ill from the dog food? | |
| How large was the recall? | |
| How were pet illnesses reported? | |
| Not Graded: If you have a pet, how many times have you handled pet food and not washed your hands? | |
| Listeria (Blue Bell) | |
| How and when was the issue first detected? | |
| How many ill/dead/hospitalized? | |
| What states were these people from and what states were the deaths associated with? | |
| How long has this outbreak been occurring? | |
| What months did people start getting sick and how many each month? | |
| How did public health officials identify cases? | |
Jermaine Byrant
Nicole Johnson
OVER
RATING
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