A health network to enhance the surveillance of foodborne diseases in Australia
News
Recent publications
Stafford RJ, Schluter PJ, Kirk M, Wilson A, Unicomb L, Ashbolt R, Gregory J
A multi-centre prospective case-control study of campylobacter infection in persons aged 5 years and older in Australia (PDF 133 KB)
Epidemiol Infect. (2007), 135, 978-988
Kirk M, Musto J, Gregory J, Fullerton K
Obligations to report outbreaks of foodborne disease under the International Health Regulations (2005) (PDF 152 KB)
Emerg Infect Dis. 2008 Sep; 14(9):1140-2.
Kirk MD, McKay I, Hall GV, Dalton CB, Stafford R, Unicomb L, Gregory J.
Food safety: foodborne disease in Australia: the OzFoodNet experience (PDF 220 KB)
Clin Infect Dis. 2008 Aug 1;47(3):392-400
Stafford RJ, Schluter PJ, Wilson AJ, Kirk MD, Hall G, Unicomb L, et al.
Population-attribute risk estimates for risk factors associated with Campylobacter infection, Australia. (PDF 210 KB)
Emerg Infect Dis. 2008 Jun; 14(6):895-901- OzFoodNet epidemiologists contributed to and participated in the recent WHO Global Salm-Surv Workshop on Foodborne Disease Surveillance held in Papua New Guinea, in April 2008.
- Information on outbreaks resulting from contaminated food can be accessed through the OzFoodNet Outbreak Register. Currently, the Register has data on the major causes of foodborne disease outbreaks for 2001 to December 2007. Data can be extracted by implicated food, setting where the food was prepared, and causative agent.
- The Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing has published an OzFoodNet report Estimating the incidence of foodborne illness in Australia (PDF 211 KB) . The report documented that annually 5.4 million cases of foodborne illness occurred in Australia, with a credible interval of 4 to 6.9 million cases. Contaminated food causes approximately 18,000 hospitalisations and 120 deaths every year. The majority of foodborne illness is due to gastroenteritis, which causes 2.1 million lost days off work, 1.2 million people to visit a doctor, and 300,000 prescriptions for antibiotics. The study was also published in the international journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
- OzFoodNet routinely uses NetEpi (a web-based database) to investigate multistate outbreaks of foodborne illness. NetEpi was developed by the Epidemiology Branch of the New South Wales Department of Health to facilitate data collection from remote sites. The database was used during a multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Hvittingfoss, to capture hypothesis generating information along with results from a case control study. It is expected that the use of web-based databases will become routine for investigation of outbreaks in the future. OzFoodNet, in conjunction with CDNA and PHLN members, are currently drafting national guidelines for managing multi-jurisdictional outbreaks of foodborne illness.
Health Department sites participating in OzFoodNet
Australian Capital Territory | New South Wales | Northern Territory | Queensland | South Australia | Tasmania | Victoria | Western Australia
To obtain alternative copies of any of the above documents please email OzFoodNet@health.gov.au
Page currency, Latest update: 15 September, 2008