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Marler Blog Providing Commentary on Food Poisoning Outbreaks & Litigation

Foodborne Illnesses On The Rise

I was wondering why 2006 and 2007 have been the busiest years at Marler Clark.

The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention have stated that the rate of some foodborne illnesses such as E. coli and salmonella in the United States are on the rise.  A new report released by the United States government finds that the amounts of food born illnesses such as E. coli and salmonella are on the rise.  The report states that although it appears that e. coli and salmonella cases are on the rise, that other food born illnesses have leveled off when it comes to their infection prevalence rate.  Listeria, Shigella, Campylobacter, and Yersinia are all food born bacterial infections that according to data gathered from 10 states have fallen in prevalence since the 90’s.

Unfortunately it appears that rates of e. coli and salmonella have risen significantly, a fact that troubles health officials with the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention.

“As recent outbreaks have shown, too many people in the United States are getting sick each year from foodborne illnesses,” CDC Director Dr. Julie Gerberding told reporters in a telephone briefing.  “For instance, the outbreaks involving tomatoes, lettuce and spinach underscore the need to more effectively prevent contamination of produce,” Gerberding added. “We’re also working to strengthen our ability to quickly detect and identify foodborne illnesses. We know the faster we can detect an outbreak, the faster we can take actions that will help protect people.”

In the year of 2006, the CDC identified over 17252 cases of food poisoning in the United States. They included 6,655 cases of Salmonella, 590 cases of E. coli O157, an additional 290 cases of other disease-causing strains of E. coli, 138 cases of Listeria and 41 cases of Cyclospora.