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A Cup of Health with CDC
November 24, 2006

[Announcer] This podcast is presented by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. CDC – safer, healthier people.

[Matthew Reynolds] Welcome to A Cup of Health with CDC, a weekly broadcast
of the MMWR, the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. I’m your host, Matthew
Reynolds.

Last summer hundreds became sick and a few died after eating spinach
contaminated by E. coli bacteria. Spinach was pulled from supermarket shelves
across the country.

This outbreak is an example of a foodborne disease. These illnesses are caused
by bacteria, viruses, or chemicals that contaminate our food.

Foodborne diseases are common in the United States. Each year contaminated
foods make nearly 76 million people sick. About five thousand people die.
A group of researchers at CDC collects information about foodborne disease
outbreaks. They have recently published a report on the outbreaks between 1998
and 2002. Here to discuss that report and foodborne diseases is Dr. Michael
Lynch of CDC’s National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne, and Enteric
Diseases.

Welcome to the show Dr. Lynch.

[Dr. Lynch] Thanks, Matt. It’s great to be here.

[Matthew Reynolds] So tell us Dr. Lynch, how does CDC collect data about
foodborne diseases [outbreaks]?

[Dr. Lynch] Well, foodborne diseases [outbreaks] are identified, investigated and
controlled by local and state health departments, sometimes with assistance from
CDC. The health departments then use a web-based system to report the
findings of their investigations to us here at CDC. They tell us about what caused
the outbreak, what food might have been involved, how many people were ill,
and several other aspects of the outbreak.

[Matthew Reynolds] Why is it so important to collect this type of data?

[Dr. Lynch] Well, this information helps us understand the types of bacteria,
viruses, parasites, and chemicals that can cause foodborne disease outbreaks,
the foods associated with outbreaks, and other factors that might contribute to
occurrence of the outbreaks.

[Matthew Reynolds] So, what are some of the trends you found in foodborne
outbreaks?

[Dr. Lynch] We saw more outbreaks reported to CDC from 1998 to 2002 than in
past years. We think that is because of efforts to facilitate reporting, not because
there were more outbreaks occurring. We also saw that the cause of the
outbreak was confirmed more often than in the past. More of those outbreaks
were found to be due to viruses, namely a particular virus called norovirus. We
had always suspected norovirus was the cause of many outbreaks; but now
better viral diagnostic tools have allowed state and local investigators to confirm
that.

[Matthew Reynolds] How often can you pinpoint the source of foodborne
illnesses?

[Dr. Lynch] Well, foodborne illness can be caused by food contaminated at just
about any point from the farm to our tables. Some bacteria are carried by food
animals, or are present in the environment where produce items are grown, and
they contaminate the food during processing. Sometimes food is contaminated
during preparation in the kitchen.

[Matthew Reynolds] Dr. Lynch, are there certain foods that are more likely to be
the source of foodborne diseases?

[Dr. Lynch] We see a wide variety of foods associated with many different kinds
of outbreaks. During this time period, there were outbreaks due to ground beef,
poultry, pork, as well as several produce items. Salmonella outbreaks due to
eggs were reported less often than in the past. We think this is related to efforts
by food safety officials and industry to reduce contamination of eggs.

[Matthew Reynolds] Where do people usually consume the foods that make them
sick?

[Dr. Lynch] The most commonly reported place where food was eaten in
outbreaks was at restaurants. The second most common place was food eaten
at home.

[Matthew Reynolds] Are there simple measures that we can take to protect
ourselves at home and in restaurants?

[Dr. Lynch] You can protect yourself and your family from foodborne illness by
washing your hands before handling food, thoroughly cooking meats, and
avoiding contaminating foods, that won’t be cooked, by raw meats in the kitchen.

[Matthew Reynolds] Thanks Dr. Lynch for taking the time to discuss an issue that
I’m sure is important to many of our listeners.

[Dr. Lynch] Thanks, Matt.

[Matthew Reynolds] That’s it for this week’s show. Don’t forget to join us next
week. Until then, be well. This is Matthew Reynolds for A Cup of Health with
CDC.

[Announcer] To access the most accurate and relevant health information that
affects you, your family, and your community, please visit www.cdc.gov.