A health network to enhance the surveillance of foodborne diseases in Australia
News
OzFoodNet, in conjunction with State and Territory health departments and laboratories investigated five multi-jurisdictional outbreaks of foodborne disease in 2009. These outbreaks included listeriosis associated with chicken wraps, Salmonella Litchfield following a car trek and hepatitis A associated with semi-dried tomatoes. To assist with the process of investigating multi-jurisdictional outbreaks, OzFoodNet has prepared draft national guidelines and will host an advanced investigation workshop in Adelaide in June 2010.During 2009, OzFoodNet completed data collection for the National Gastroenteritis Survey II. The survey was a year-long nationwide cross-sectional survey that asked participants whether they had experienced gastroenteritis in the previous month. This survey was a repeat of one conducted in 2001–2, which found that Australians experienced approximately 17.2 million episodes of gastroenteritis every year.
OzFoodNet is part of a World Health Organization capacity building network—Global Foodborne Infections Network (GFN) that was formerly known as Global SalmSurv (http://www.who.int/salmsurv/en/). GFN supports laboratory-based surveillance of foodborne diseases, by teaching epidemiologists and laboratory scientists to conduct surveillance for foodborne infections and investigate outbreaks. In 2009, OzFoodNet sent a trainer to an advanced foodborne disease surveillance course in Thailand and hosted the GFN annual steering committee meeting in Canberra.
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 2008. Data can be extracted by implicated food, setting where the food was prepared, and causative agent. OzFoodNet Outbreak Register
Recent publications
Gibbs R, Pingault N, Mazzucchelli T, O’Reilly L, McKenzie B, Green J, Mogyorosy R, Stafford R, Bell R, Hiley L, Fullerton K and Van Buynder P. An outbreak of Salmonella enterica Serotype Litchfield infection in Australia linked to consumption of contaminated papaya. Journal of Food Protection 2009; 72(5): 1094-1098.Lewis HC, Ethelberg S, Olsen K, Nielsen E, Lisby M, Madsen S, Boel J, Stafford R, Kirk M, Smith H, Tikumrum S, Wisetrojana A, Bangtakulnon A, Vithayarungruangsri J, Siriarayaporn P, Ungchusak K, Bishop J and Mølbak K. Outbreaks of Shigella sonnei in Denmark and Australia linked to consumption of imported raw baby corn. Epidemiology and Infection 2009; 137: 326-334.
McPherson M, Combs B, Raupach J, Kirk M, Gregory J, Stafford R, Lalor K. Serogroup-specific risk factors for shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli infection in Australia. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2009; 49: 249-256.
McPherson M, Lalor K, Combs B, Raupach J, Stafford R, Kirk MD. Serogroup-specific risk factors for Shiga Toxin-producing Escherichia coli infection in Australia. Clinical Infectious Diseases 2009; 49, 249-256.
Munnoch SA, Ward K, Sheridan S, Fitzsimmons GJ, Shadbolt CT, Piispanen JP, Wang Q, Ward TJ, Worgan TLM, Oxenford C, Musto JA, McAnulty J, Durrheim DN. A multi-state outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul in Australia associated with cantaloupe consumption. Epidemiology and Infection 2009; 137(3), 367-374.
Pingault NM, Gibbs RA, Barclay AM and Monaghan M. Two cases of anticholinergic syndrome associated with consumption of bitter lupin flour, Medical Journal of Australia, 2009; 191(3), 173-174.
Slinko VG, McCall BJ, Stafford RJ, Bell RJ, Hiley LA, Sandberg SM, White SA, Bell KM. Outbreaks of Salmonella Typhimurium phage type 197 of multiple genotypes linked to an egg producer. 2009; Communicable Diseases Intelligence (in press).
Stafford RJ, Schluter PJ, Kirk MD, Wilson A. Population-Attributable Risk Estimates for Risk Factors Associated with Campylobacter Infection, Australia. Letter to the Editor. Emerging Infectious Diseases 2009; 15(5): 850-852.
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: 03 February, 2010