The latest data on food diseases in Australia revealed that Salmonella caused more than half of the reported epidemics.
In 2019, the country’s state and territory health services received 55,622 notifications of entertic diseases potentially linked to food. In accordance with previous years, the majority of infections were either campylobacteriosis or salmonellosis.
The study, published in brandable Diseases Intelligence, revealed that 121 epidemics of food origin assigned 2,428 people, which led to 402 admissions to the hospital and four deaths.
Salmonella caused 64 epidemics. Eggs were a major source of infection with Salmonella Typhimurium across the country, with 26 epidemics related to eggs affecting 936 people.
In 2018, there were 51,174 notifications of food origin with 127 epidemics. The epidemics affected 1,644 people, with 283 admissions to the hospital and 13 deaths.
The number of Campylobacter infections was 36,451 in 2019. South Wales reported most of the cases with more than 11,300.
The highest infection rates have occurred in children up to 4 years old, followed by adults aged 80 to 84. A higher incidence has been observed in men in all age groups. An epidemic has been traced at the lag of chicken liver.
Salmonella and Stec
The number of infections in Salmonella was 14,676. Queensland reported 3,816 cases. Notifications were significantly higher in children under the age of 5.
In total, 206 different serotypes identified. The most common type was Salmonella Typhimurium, followed by Enteritidis, Virchow and SaintPaul.
There were 655 notifications of E. Coli with nearly 300 from South Australia.
Notifications were highest in children up to 4 years old, followed by these aged 25 to 29 and were more frequent in women than in men. Most cases have been acquired in Australia. Among the patients infected abroad, Indonesia was the best visited country.
Victoria reported 10 of the 19 cases of uremic hemolytic syndrome (HUS). The HU was the most common in children under the age of 5 with eight infections. Thirteen patients were women and six were men. Two deaths of Hus occurred, one in a New South Wales residing in sixties and the second in a Queensland residing in the thirties.
The 51 patients with listeriosis needed hospital treatment. New South Wales reported most of the cases with 17. An epidemic with four patients and two deaths was caused by smoked salmon. Three smoked salmon samples were positive for Listeria Monocytogenes; Although they were within the regulatory limits.
Seven cases were pregnant women and four infants less than four weeks old. From the 40 other cases, 25 were men. The majority were over 65 and 14 over 80 years old. Ten patients died and three deaths were allocated to listeriosis.
For hepatitis A, 242 infections were recorded with 109 in Victoria. A total of 142 people were hospitalized. An epidemic of food linked to imported products had four patients.
Major epidemics
Of the 121 food epidemics, New South Wales reported 30 while Victoria and Western Australia were joint with 26 each. Victoria had the most cases, but South Australia recorded the most hospitalizations.
Salmonella was behind 64 epidemics, the norovirus caused 13, ciguatoxin caused new, scombrotoxin was behind six and five because of Clostridium perfringens. Campylobacter, Listeria and Methemoglobinemia all caused one.
Restaurants / cafes were the main framework for preparing for reported foods, representing 59 epidemics.
Eggs were linked to 26 epidemics, seafood at 18 and meat at five. Epidemics associated with eggs included 24 epidemics of Salmonella Typhimurium and a single epidemic of Salmonella Enrititidis and Salmonella Hessarek.
The first epidemic of Salmonella Enteritidis linked to Australian commercial egg farms reported 245 people between May 2018 and July 2019. Between September and December 2019, 94 confirmed and a likely patient fell ill in an epidemic of Salmonella Weltevenden drew a frozen meal brand. Salmonella Weltevreden was detected in 16 unreflated frozen meal samples; However, salmonella was not found in the manufacturing installation or in raw ingredients.
A methemoglobinemia incident with two patients was caused by shrimp served in a restaurant in New South Wales. Methemoglobinemia is a condition characterized by high levels of methemoglobin in the blood, resulting in a reduction in oxygen administration to the tissues.
(To register for a free subscription to Food Safety News,Click here))
