A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the incidence of eight domestically acquired infections commonly transmitted through food increased or remained stable in 2023 compared to the 2016-2018 baseline. This news highlights the challenges in achieving the federal disease reduction goals set by the Healthy People 2030 (HP2030) initiative.
The 2023 preliminary data from the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) indicate that, despite continued public health efforts, infections such as campylobacteriosis, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infection, yersiniosis, vibriosis and cyclosporiasis experienced an increase. In contrast, the incidences of listeriosis, salmonellosis and shigellosis remained stable.
Increasing infections and diagnostic changes
A major factor contributing to the reported rise in foodborne infections is the increased use of culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs). These tests, which allow faster and more efficient diagnosis of infections, have become increasingly common in recent years. Although CIDTs have improved the speed of clinical diagnosis and treatment, they also pose challenges to public health surveillance.
CIDTs work by detecting the presence of a gene or antigen associated with a specific pathogen. CIDTs can be performed more quickly and produce results much sooner than traditional culture-based methods.
According to the CDC, the percentage of infections diagnosed by CIDTs continued to rise in 2023. This trend affects observed incidence rates because CIDTs can identify infections that may have previously gone unnoticed, leading to apparently iincrease in the number of reported cases.
Public health implications
According to the report, these findings highlight the need for continued surveillance to monitor the impact of changing diagnostic practices on disease trends. In addition, there is a call for targeted prevention efforts to reduce the incidence of foodborne illness. Despite the apparent lack of progress toward the HP2030 goals, the CDC emphasizes that the increase in reported cases does not necessarily indicate a true increase in infections, but rather an artifact of improved detection methods.
In 2023, FoodNet expanded its catchment area for the first time since 2004, improving the representativeness of its data. This expansion is expected to increase the network’s ability to monitor trends in disease incidence and generalize the findings to the broader U.S. population.
Look forward to something
The findings from the CDC report underscore the complexity of detecting and mitigating foodborne illness in the United States. As diagnostic technologies evolve, so must the strategies for monitoring and controlling these infections.
The CDC’s continued surveillance and the expanded FoodNet catchment are critical steps toward understanding and addressing the dynamics of foodborne illness in the U.S., ensuring efforts are tailored to the evolving landscape of diagnostic practices and public health needs.
Read the full report here.
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