Foodborne transmission of infectious intestinal disease in England and Wales, 1992–2003

This paper reports information on foodborne outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease (IID) in England and Wales during the period 1992–2003 collected as part of a major investigation into Breakdowns in Food Safety. Between 1992 and 2003, 7620 general outbreaks of IID were reported to the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre and in 1729 (23%) the mode of transmission was described as foodborne. In total, 39,625 people were affected and 68 deaths reported. Salmonella spp. were implicated in over half of all foodborne outbreaks. During the surveillance period, the proportion of outbreaks attributed to Salmonella spp., Clostridium perfringens and Vero cytotoxin-producing Escherichia coli O157 decreased, whereas the proportion of outbreaks attributed to Campylobacters increased.