Attributing illness caused by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) to specific foods

Attributing illness caused by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) to specific foods

Year of publication 2019

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 74 p.

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Book (series)

ISBN 978-92-5-131746-4

Series title Microbiological Risk Assessment Series

Series number No. 32

Edition 1

Full item page

Synopsis (short abstract) Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections are a substantial public health issue worldwide, causing more than 1 million illnesses, 128 deaths and nearly 13 000 Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) annually. To appropriately target interventions to prevent STEC infections transmitted through food, it is important to determine the specific types of foods leading to these illnesses. An analysis of data from STEC foodborne outbreak investigations reported globally, and a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies of sporadic STEC infections published for all dates and locations, were conducted. A total of 957 STEC outbreaks from 27 different countries were included in the analysis. Overall, outbreak data identified that 16% (95% UI, 2-17%) of outbreaks were attributed to beef, 15% (95% UI, 2-15%) to produce and 6% (95% UI, 1-6%) to dairy products. The food sources involved in 57% of all outbreaks could not be identified. The attribution proportions were calculated by WHO region and the attribution of specific food commodities varied between geographic regions. In the European and American sub-regions of the WHO, the primary sources of outbreaks were beef and produce. In contrast, produce and dairy were identified as the primary sources of STEC outbreaks in the WHO Western Pacific sub-region. The systematic search of the literature identified useable data from 21 publications of case-control studies of sporadic STEC infections. The results of the meta-analysis identified, overall, beef and meat-unspecified as significant risk factors for STEC infection. Geographic region and age of the study population contributed to significant sources of

Cite this content as:

FAO and WHO. 2019. Attributing illness caused by Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) to specific foods. Microbiological Risk Assessment Series no. 32. Rome.

https://doi.org/10.4060/ca5758en

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Language English

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