CDC: Salmonella Outbreaks And Deaths On The Decline

ATLANTA, GA. (AP) –– Outbreaks and deaths from one of the worst strains of salmonella that plagued the United States in the 1980s is on the decline, a new federal health study says.

The rise of salmonella enteritidis in the 1980s was one of the worst foodborne epidemics in recent US history. The bacteria strain rapidly spread from the Northeast to the rest of the country. By the early 1990s it had reached Hawaii and could be found on other continents.

“This was a real big epidemic that emerged,” said Dr Robert Tauxe, chief of the foodborne and diarrheal diseases branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “It also emerged in Europe, Japan, and many other countries all at the same time.”

But since the early 1990s, the case rate has been cut by half, according to the study, which will be published in the January issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a CDC journal. In 1995, infections from the strain reached a high of 3.9 per 100,000 people but that dropped to 1.98 per 100,000 in 1999.

That’s still higher than the rate of 0.55 per 100,000 recorded in 1976 prior to the 1980s outbreaks, said the study, available on the CDC website.

In addition, deaths from such outbreaks in health facilities dropped from 14 in 1987 to zero in 1999, the CDC said. During the peak of the epidemic in the 1980s, enteritidis was the top salmonella strain in the country. Now it represents about 15 percent of all salmonella cases.

“This by and large is a success story, one of the few that we’ve had,” said Dr David Haburchak, professor of medicine at the Medical College of Georgia. “There’s been a lot of effort by CDC and health departments and clinicians” to prevent salmonella infections.

The strain can be inside perfectly normal-appearing eggs, and if the eggs are eaten raw or undercooked, people can become ill. About 1 in 50 consumers may be exposed to a contaminated egg each year, the CDC said. It causes fever, abdominal cramps and diarrhea in most people for up to a week but can cause death in the elderly, infants, and those with impaired immune systems.

Health officials credited the reduction to extensive control efforts, including encouraging the use of pasteurized eggs, refrigerating eggs, and teaching people to avoid eating raw or runny eggs.

But more efforts are needed for infection rates to continue decreasing, Dr Tauxe said.

“This is a story of how farm-to-table control measures can blunt an epidemic,” he said. “But we’re not blowing the ‘home-free’ whistle yet –– it’s still important to be wary of raw eggs.”

The CDC continues to be watchful over the rise of the infection in the South –– where salmonella enteritidis previously had never had taken a foothold –– despite poultry areas such as Georgia where plenty of eggs are hatched. Earlier this year, the CDC found the bacteria strain among poultry and in prisons in the Carolinas.

“That means it has arrived in the South; there were not any large outbreaks in the South, but this was a worrisome event,” Dr Tauxe said.