13.11.2015

Canada Communicable Disease Report: Volume 41-11, November 5, 2015

It is estimated that approximatively four million episodes of domestically acquired foodborne illness occur every year in Canada. Some of these illnesses will lead to hospitalizations and death. Recent estimates indicate that there are 11,600 hospitalizations and 238 deaths associated with domestically acquired foodborne illness every year in Canada.
Among the 115 foodborne outbreaks reported from 2008 to 2014, 106 outbreaks (92.2%) reported an etiologic agent. The majority (73%) of outbreaks were attributed to bacterial agents and viral etiology accounted for 14.8%. The most frequently reported etiologic agents were Salmonella (40.9%), Escherichia (14.8%) and norovirus (12.2%). A serotype was reported for 46 of the 47 Salmonella outbreaks. Enteritidis was the most common serotype reported and was responsible for 22 of the 47 Salmonella outbreaks (46.8%). All reported Escherichia outbreaks were caused by E. coli O157 VTEC.
There were a total of 3,301 cases (2,261 lab-confirmed and 1,040 clinical) associated with the 115 foodborne outbreak investigations. The largest proportion (2,041/3,301 or 61.8%) of total cases was attributed to Salmonella infections and 87% of these cases were laboratory-confirmed. The second highest proportion (352/3,301 or 10.7%) of total cases was observed for norovirus, 92.9% of which were clinical cases. Of the 3,301 total cases associated with foodborne outbreaks, 225 cases were hospitalized and 30 deaths were reported. The average number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths associated with each pathogen varied greatly. Known etiologic agents that caused the greatest number of cases per outbreak were Salmonella, Cyclospora, Clostridium perfringens and shellfish poisoning with an average of 43, 40, 37 and 33 cases per outbreak respectively.Most investigations (73/115 or 63.5%) reported a specific food associated with the outbreak. Meat was the most commonly reported source (26%), followed by eggs (15.1%) and vegetables (13.7%). Among the 47 foodborne Salmonella outbreaks, the foods associated with the outbreak were identified in 28 outbreaks (59.6%) and were mainly eggs (39.3%) and meat (28.6%).