Prevalence and Incidence of Salmonella food poisoning

Ophanet, who are a consortium of European partners, currently defines a condition rare when if affects 1 person per 2,000. They list Salmonella food poisoning as a "rare disease". More information about Salmonella food poisoning is available from Orphanet

Incidence (annual) of Salmonella food poisoning:

estimated 1.4 million cases (CDC estimate/NIAID, many unreported) ... see also overview of Salmonella food poisoning.

Incidence Rate:

approx 1 in 194 or 0.51% or 1.4 million people in USA [Source statistic for calcuation: "estimated 1.4 million cases (CDC estimate/NIAID, many unreported)" -- see also general information about data sources]

Incidence extrapolations for USA for Salmonella food poisoning:

1,400,000 per year, 116,666 per month, 26,923 per week, 3,835 per day, 159 per hour, 2 per minute, 0 per second. [Source statistic for calculation: "estimated 1.4 million cases (CDC estimate/NIAID, many unreported)" -- see also general information about data sources]

Undiagnosed prevalence of Salmonella food poisoning:

up to 1.4 million cases (CDC/NAID); estimated that only 2% of cases are reported to CDC ... see also misdiagnosis of Salmonella food poisoning.

Undiagnosed prevalence rate:

approx 1 in 194 or 0.51% or 1.4 million people in USA [about data] ... Note: this rate calculation uses the following statistic: up to 1.4 million cases (CDC/NAID); estimated that only 2% of cases are reported to CDC

Prevalance of Salmonella food poisoning:

It is estimated that from 2 to 4 million cases of salmonellosis occur in the U.S. annually. (Source: FDA Bad Bug Book) ... Every year, approximately 40,000 cases of salmonellosis are reported in the United States. Because many milder cases are not diagnosed or reported, the actual number of infections may be twenty or more times greater. (Source: excerpt from Salmonellosis (General): DBMD) ... An estimated 1.4 million cases occur annually in the United States; of these, approximately 40,000 are culture-confirmed cases reported to CDC. (Source: excerpt from Salmonellosis: DBMD)

Prevelance of Salmonella food poisoning discussion:

Foodborne Infections General: DBMD (Excerpt)

Because many ill persons to not seek attention, and of those that do, many are not tested, many cases of foodborne illness go undiagnosed.  For example, CDC estimates that 38 cases of salmonellosis actually occur for every case that is actually diagnosed and reported to public health authorities.  (Source: excerpt from Foodborne Infections General: DBMD)

Foodborne Diseases, NIAID Fact Sheet: NIAID (Excerpt)

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1.4 million people in the United States are infected each year with Salmonella. Only a small proportion of infected people are tested and diagnosed, with as few as 2 percent of cases reported to CDC. Salmonellosis may occur in small, localized outbreaks in the general population or in large outbreaks in hospitals, restaurants, or institutions for children or the elderly. (Source: excerpt from Foodborne Diseases, NIAID Fact Sheet: NIAID)

Salmonella: CDC-OC (Excerpt)

Every year, approximately 800,000 to 4 million cases of Salmonella result in 500 deaths in the United States. Children are the most likely to get Salmonella. Young children, the elderly, and the immunocompromised are the most likely to have severe infections. (Source: excerpt from Salmonella: CDC-OC)

Outbreaks of Salmonella food poisoning:

The incidence of salmonellosis appears to be rising both in the U.S. and in other industrialized nations. S. enteritidis isolations from humans have shown a dramatic rise in the past decade, particularly in the northeast United States (6-fold or more), and the increase in human infections is spreading south and west, with sporadic outbreaks in other regions.

Reported cases of Salmonellosis in the U.S. excluding typhoid fever for the years 1988 to 1995. The number of cases for each year varies between 40,000 and 50,000. From Summary of Notifiable Diseases, United States MMWR 44(53): 1996 (October 25). (Source: FDA Bad Bug Book) ... Selected Outbreaks: In 1985, a salmonellosis outbreak involving 16,000 confirmed cases in 6 states was caused by low fat and whole milk from one Chicago dairy. This was the largest outbreak of foodborne salmonellosis in the U.S. FDA inspectors discovered that the pasteurization equipment had been modified to facilitate the running off of raw milk, resulting in the pasteurized milk being contaminated with raw milk under certain conditions. The dairy has subsequently disconnected the cross-linking line. Persons on antibiotic therapy were more apt to be affected in this outbreak.

In August and September, 1985, S. enteritidis was isolated from employees and patrons of three restaurants of a chain in Maryland. The outbreak in one restaurant had at least 71 illnesses resulting in 17 hospitalizations. Scrambled eggs from a breakfast bar were epidemiologically implicated in this outbreak and in possibly one other of the three restaurants. The plasmid profiles of isolates from patients all three restaurants matched.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has recorded more than 120 outbreaks of S. enteritidis to date, many occurring in restaurants, and some in nursing homes, hospitals and prisons.

In 1984, 186 cases of salmonellosis (S. enteritidis) were reported on 29 flights to the United States on a single international airline. An estimated 2,747 passengers were affected overall. No specific food item was implicated, but food ordered from the first class menu was strongly associated with disease.

S. enteritidis outbreaks continue to occur in the U.S. The CDC estimates that 75% of those outbreaks are associated with the consumption of raw or inadequately cooked Grade A whole shell eggs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture published Regulations on February 16, 1990, in the Federal Register establishing a mandatory testing program for egg-producing breeder flocks and commercial flocks implicated in causing human illnesses. This testing should lead to a reduction in cases of gastroenteritis caused by the consumption of Grade A whole shell eggs.

Salmonellosis associated with a Thanksgiving Dinner in Nevada in 1995 is reported in MMWR 45(46):1996 Nov 22.

MMWR 45(34):1996 Aug 30 reports on several outbreaks of Salmonella enteritidis infection associated with the consumption of raw shell eggs in the United States from 1994 to 1995.

A report of an outbreak of Salmonella Serotype Typhimurium infection associated with the consumption of raw ground beef may be found in MMWR 44(49):1995 Dec 15.

MMWR 44(42):1995 Oct 27 reports on an outbreak of Salmonellosis associated with beef jerky in New Mexico in 1995.

The report on the outbreak of Salmonella from commercially prepared ice cream is found in MMWR 43(40):1994 Oct 14.

An outbreak of S. enteritidis in homemade ice cream is reported in this MMWR 43(36):1994 Sep 16.

A series of S. enteritidis outbreaks in California are summarized in the following MMWR 42(41):1993 Oct 22. For information on an outbreak of Salmonella Serotype Tennessee in Powdered Milk Products and Infant Formula -- see this MMWR 42(26):1993 Jul 09. Summaries of Salmonella outbreaks associated with Grade A eggs are reported in MMWR 37(32):1988 Aug 19 and MMWR 39(50):1990 Dec 21. For more information on recent outbreaks see the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports from CDC. (Source: FDA Bad Bug Book)

Incidence statistics for Salmonella food poisoning:

The following statistics relate to the incidence of Salmonella food poisoning:

• 43,694 cases (1998)
• 40,596 annual cases notified in USA 1999 (MMWR 1999)
• 18.37 per 100,000 in Canada 2000¹
• 39.4 new cases of salmonellosis per 100,000 population was notified in Australia 2002 (Yohannes K, Roche P, Blumer C et al. 2004, Australia’s Health 2004, AIHW)
• more statistics...»

More Statistics about Salmonella food poisoning:

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