Volume 23, Number 3—March 2017
Dispatch
Outbreaks of Disease Associated with Food Imported into the United States, 1996–20141
, Jennifer Kline, Caitlin Monahan, and Katherine Vierk
Table
Outbreaks and illnesses caused by imported foods, by causative agent and food category, United States, 1996–2014*
| Etiology | No. (%) |
|
|---|---|---|
| Outbreaks |
Illnesses |
|
| Agent | ||
| Scombroid toxin | 57 (31) | 192 (2) |
| Salmonella | 52 (28) | 4,421 (42) |
| Ciguatoxin | 18 (10) | 76 (0.7) |
| Cyclospora | 11 (6) | 3,533 (33) |
| Norovirus | 10 (5) | 131 (1) |
| Escherichia coli O157 | 6 (3) | 116 (1) |
| Shigella sonnei | 5 (3) | 625 (6) |
| Vibrio parahaemolyticus | 5 (3) | 243 (2) |
| Listeria monocytogenes | 4 (2) | 67 (0.6) |
| Hepatitis A virus | 4 (2) | 1150 (11) |
| Brucella | 3 (2) | 11 (0.1) |
| Other† |
9 (5) |
38 (0.4) |
| Food category | ||
| Aquatic animals | ||
| Fish | 88 (45) | 830 (8) |
| Mollusks | 17 (9) | 350 (3) |
| Crustaceans | 1 (0.5) | 18 (0.2) |
| Other seafood | 1 (0.5) | 14 (0.1) |
| Land animals | ||
| Dairy | 12 (6) | 140 (1) |
| Beef | 1 (0.5) | 29 (0.3) |
| Eggs | 1 (0.5) | 58 (0.5) |
| Game | 1 (0.5) | 2 (0) |
| Produce | ||
| Fruits | 22 (112) | 3,450 (32) |
| Seeded vegetables | 11 (6) | 1,847 (17) |
| Sprouts | 10 (5) | 510 (5) |
| Vegetable row crops | 7 (4) | 1,241 (12) |
| Spices | 4 (2) | 530 (5) |
| Herbs | 4 (2) | 1,147 (11) |
| Other produce | 2 (1) | 154 (1) |
| Other plants | ||
| Nuts and seeds | 5 (3) | 132 (1) |
| Oils and sugars | 2 (1) | 10 (0.1) |
| Grains and beans | 1 (0.5) | 89 (0.8) |
| Multiple etiology‡ | 5 (3) | 134 (1) |
*Causative agent data were available for 184 outbreaks involving 10,603 illnesses. Food category data were available for 195 outbreaks involving 10,685 illnesses.
†Other agents implicated were tetrodotoxin (3 outbreaks) and Campylobacter, chaconine, Paragonimus, other virus, sulfite, and Trichinella (1 outbreak each).
‡Foods implicated were a chicken dish, crab cake, creampuff, beer, and a wheat snack (1 outbreak each).
1Preliminary results from this study were presented at the International Conference on Emerging Infectious Diseases, March 11–14, 2012, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
2Current affiliation: New York City Department of Mental Health and Hygiene, Queens, New York, USA.