Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance

CDC collects reports of foodborne outbreaks due to enteric bacterial, viral, parasitic, and chemical agents. State, local, and territorial public health agencies report these outbreaks to the Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System through the National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS). The CDC surveillance team conducts analyses of these data to improve understanding of the human health impact of foodborne outbreaks and the pathogens, foods, settings, and contributing factors (for example, food not kept at the right temperature) involved in these outbreaks. Starting in 2009, the system has also included modules for reporting enteric disease outbreaks transmitted through water, person-to-person contact, or direct contact with animals. The data transmission tool that preceded NORS was called the electronic Foodborne Outbreak Reporting System (eFORS) from 1998-2008. Data: For data on foodborne outbreaks, the Foodborne Outbreak Online Database (FOOD) can be searched.

Data on foodborne outbreaks:

Foodborne Outbreak Online Database (FOOD) is an annual listing of foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States (1998–2009) which has been designed to allow the public direct access to information on foodborne outbreaks reported to CDC. Most outbreaks are reported to the system by the state, local, territorial, or tribal health department that conducted the outbreak investigation. Outbreak reporting is voluntary. Multistate outbreaks are generally reported by CDC. For more information, see FOOD Tool Questions and Answers.

Reports

Reported Foodborne Disease Outbreaks and Illnesses by Etiology and Food Commodities, United States

• 2008 MMWR – Surveillance for Food Disease Outbreaks --- United States, 2008
  • CDC.gov Feature on the report
  • Expanded Table 2 – Attribution to specific food commodities, 2008 PDF - 484 KB
  • Table 3 – Settings where food was eaten, 2008 PDF - 321 KB
  • Foodborne Surveillance Questions and Answers
• 2007 MMWR - Surveillance for Foodborne Disease Outbreaks --- United States, 2007
  • Expanded Table 2 - Attribution to specific food commodities, 2007 PDF - 462 KB
  • Table 3 – Settings where food was eaten, 2007 PDF - 65KB
• 2006 MMWR - Surveillance for Foodborne Disease Outbreaks --- United States, 2006
  • Expanded Table 2 - Attribution to specific food commodities, 2006 PDF - 148 KB
• Surveillance for Foodborne Disease Outbreaks --- United States, 1998—2002
• Surveillance for Foodborne Disease Outbreaks -- United States, 1993-1997

Historical Data

Annual Listing of Foodborne Disease Outbreaks, United States (1990-1997†)

• 1997† PDF - 103 KB
• 1996† PDF - 95 KB
• 1995† PDF - 95 KB
• 1994† PDF - 99 KB
• 1993† PDF - 93 KB
• 1992† PDF - 90 KB
• 1991† PDF - 94 KB
• 1990† PDF - 96 KB

† The food source of contamination for outbreaks reported to CDC 1990–1997 were reviewed, and possibly modified by CDC staff. Therefore, there may be differences between these data and the original data reported by the state.
Note 1: All etiologies are as reported by the state without confirmation of etiology by CDC staff.
Note 2:The above annual listings include information received by CDC after publication of "Surveillance for Foodborne Disease Outbreaks, United States, 1993–1997," (CDC Surveillance Summaries, March 17, 2000; 49/SS01), "Surveillance for Foodborne-Disease Outbreaks, United States, 1998–2002," (CDC Surveillance Summaries, November 10, 2006; 55/SS10), and "Surveillance for Foodborne Disease Outbreaks, United States, 2006," (CDC Weekly, June 12, 2009; 58(22)/609–615). The data provided in the listing may therefore differ from the published summary data.

Please note: Some of these publications are available for download only as *.pdf files. These files require Adobe Acrobat Reader in order to be viewed. Please review the information on downloading and using Acrobat Reader software.