Fundamental Food Microbiology, Third Edition - Fuad Fathir

338 FUNDAMENTAL FOOD MICROBIOLOGY
B. FoodNet
The CDC, along with the Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) of the USDA, the
FDA, and the eight Emerging Infections Program (EIP) sites developed the FoodNet
Program in an effort to reduce foodborne diseases in the U.S. The major objectives
of FoodNet are to determine (a) the frequency and severity of foodborne diseases;
(b) the proportion of common foodborne diseases that result from eating specific
foods; and (c) the epidemiology of new bacterial, parasitic, and viral foodborne
pathogens. To obtain the information, FoodNet conducts active surveillance and
related epidemiological studies. FoodNet can determine the effectiveness of the
programs initiated by an interagency national food safety initiative to reduce foodborne
diseases. One example is to study the effectiveness of the USDA Pathogen
Reduction and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) rule in reducing
the number of cases of major foodborne diseases in the U.S. each year. FoodNet is
a sentinel network that can respond rapidly to new and emerging foodborne pathogens
and evaluate new prevention and control strategies to safeguard the food and
health of consumers. 6
FoodNet was established in 1996 by directly linking CDC, USDA-FSIS, and the
FDA with the state and local health departments in the states of California, Connecticut,
Georgia, Maryland, Minnesota, New York, and Oregon. As of 1999, Food-
Net conducted population-based active surveillance for confirmed cases of nine
pathogens, namely, Campylobacter, Salmonella, Shigella, Esc. coli O157:H7, Lis.
monocytogenes, Yer. enterocolitica, Vibrio spp., Cryptosporidium, and Cyclospora
(the last two were included since 1997), covering 25.6 million people. 6–9
Table 23.13 summarizes the findings between 1996 and 1999. Over the 4-year
period, the incidence from Campylobacter, Shigella, and Esc. coli O157:H7 declined.
The incidence of Salmonella declined in 1997 and 1998, but increased again in 1999.
Table 23.13 Rate of Incidence of Nine Foodborne Diseases from 1996 to 1999 in the U.S.
Rate Per 100,000 Population
Pathogen
a
1996 1997 1998 1999b Campylobacter spp. 23.5 25.2 21.4 17.3
Salmonellac 14.5 13.6 12.3 14.8
Shigella spp. 8.9 7.5 8.5 5.0
Esc. coli O157:H7 2.7 2.3 2.8 2.1
Lis. monocytogenes 0.5 0.5 0.6 0.5
Yer. enterocolitica` 1.0 0.9 1.0 0.9
Vibrio spp. 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.2
Cryptosporidium NId 3.0 3.4 2.9
Cyclospora NI 0.3