ITEMS OF INTEREST

FOODBORNE ILLNESS NUMBERS DECREASE
Federal health inspectors from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said March 16 that gastrointestinal illnesses caused by food contaminated with bacteria, such as E. coli, Campylobacter and Shigella, have declined 19 percent since 1997. Dr. Patricia Griffin of the CDC’s National Center for Infectious Diseases said the drop suggested that prevention programs in the meat and poultry industry were working.
Despite the overall decline, the number of people sickened by Salmonella increased between 1998 and 1999, climbing to the highest level since the government started keeping track four years ago. Salmonella infections rose from 12.3 per 1000,000 people in 1998 to 14.8 per 100,000 in 1999. Researchers blamed the increase on large outbreaks of salmonellosis linked to unpasteurized orange juice, imported mangoes, and raw sprouts. "So we think we have not made as much progress in decreasing the contamination of fruits and vegetables," commented Griffin. Notably, the variety of the pathogen found commonly in poultry and egg products, Salmonella enteritidis, declined 7 percent from 1998 to 1999.