Etiological Agents Implicated in Foodborne Illness World Wide

Abstract

This mini review focuses on foodborne illnesses and outbreaks caused by food-producing animals because statistical information of the foodborne illnesses is important in human health and food industry. Contaminated food results in 600 million cases of foodborne diseases and 420,000 deaths worldwide every year. The world population is currently 7.8 billion, and 56 million people die every year; of these, every year, 7.69% of people experience foodborne diseases, and 7.5% of annual deaths (56 million deaths) was died by foodborne illness in the world. A majority of such patients are affected by norovirus and Campylobacter. Listeria monocytogenes is the most fatal. In the United States, except for those caused by Campylobacter, the number of foodborne diseases did not decrease between 1997 and 2017, and cases caused by Toxoplasma gondii are still being reported (9 cases in 2017). The percentage of foodborne illnesses caused by food-producing animals was 10.4%-14.1% between 1999 and 2017 in the United States. In Europe, foodborne illnesses affect 23 million people every year and cause approximately 5,000 deaths. Europe has more Campylobacter- and Salmonella-related cases than in other countries. In Australia, the highest number of cases are due to Campylobacter, followed by Salmonella. In Korea, Escherichia coli followed by norovirus. Campylobacter- and Clostridium perfringens-related cases have been reported in Japan as well. This review suggests that Campylobacter, Salmonella, L. monocytogenes, and E. coli, which are usually isolated from animal-source food products are associated with a high risk of foodborne illnesses.

Keywords: Campylobacter; Listeria monocytogenes; Salmonella; foodborne illness; norovirus.