The Epidemiology of Foodborne Disease in England and Wales in the 1980s

Abstract

An epidemic of salmonellosis due to Salmonella enteritidis phage type 4 (PT4), a rise in Campylobacter enteritis, the detection of foodborne transmission in some cases of listeriosis and a large outbreak of botulism in north-west England and Wales were much publicized events in foodborne infectious disease in Britain in 1989. However, other changes took place in the 1980s which attracted less public attention; outbreaks of viral foodborne disease became more common, haemorrhagic colitis was first recorded, yersiniosis and infections caused by Aeromonas spp. increased, cryptosporidiosis and giardiasis came into prominence, and the major foodborne diseases of the past remained rare and usually imported. This article describes the surveillance of foodborne disease and reviews briefly these recent changes with particular reference to England and Wales, under four main headings: increasing foodborne infections, emerging foodborne infections, foodborne intoxications and ‘old’ foodborne diseases, updating a previous review (Galbraith et al., 1987).