3,000 Americans Die From Foodborne Illnesses Annually

ATLANTANew data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals 3,000 Americans die each year from foodborne diseases. Approximately, 48 million1 in sixAmericans get sick, and 128,000 are hospitalized annually.

The data were published today in two articles in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases that provide the most accurate picture yet of what foodborne pathogens are causing the most illness, as well as estimating the proportion of foodborne illness without a known cause. The reports are the first comprehensive estimates since 1999 and are CDC's first to estimate illnesses caused solely by foods eaten in the United States.

Salmonella was the leading cause of estimated hospitalizations and deaths, responsible for about 28 percent of deaths and 35 percent of hospitalizations due to known pathogens transmitted by food. About 90 percent of estimated illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths were due to seven pathogensSalmonella, norovirus, Campylobacter, Toxoplasma, E.coli O157, Listeria and Clostridium perfringens. Nearly 60 percent of estimated illnesses, but a much smaller proportion of severe illness, was caused by norovirus.

Of the total estimate of 48 million illnesses annually, CDC estimates that 9.4 million illnesses are due to 31 known foodborne pathogens. The remaining 38 million illnesses result from unspecified agents, which include known agents without enough data to make specific estimates, agents not yet recognized as causing foodborne illness, and agents not yet discovered. In both the 1999 and current estimates, unspecified agents were responsible for roughly 80 percent of estimated illnesses.

"We've made progress in better understanding the burden of foodborne illness and unfortunately, far too many people continue to get sick from the food they eat," said CDC Director Thomas Frieden, M.D, M.P.H. "These estimates provide valuable information to help CDC and its partners set priorities and further reduce illnesses from food."