Purpose: The goal of this study was to determine whether informal reporting methods can be used in collaboration with formal reports (information primarily from governmental sources) to better understand the regional trends and burden of foodborne and waterborne diseases.
Methods: The website, Safe Food International Regional News, was developed to gather informal reports on foodborne and waterborne diseases in six world regions. Articles were sorted by region and year (2009 and 2010). Four of the six regions met inclusion requirements for analysis. Data was extracted from each article for analysis. Statistical tests were used to determine if there were significant differences between regions and years in case fatality and cumulative incidence rates using the following factors: disease-causing agents, pathways, start month/season, and information source. In addition, results of informal reports for cholera were compared to the WHO’s formal cholera database for each region.
Results: Almost 400 disease events between 2009 and 2010 were analyzed. There were statistically significant differences in case fatality rates between the world regions - with Africa having the highest rate. Informal reporting results for cholera were compared to official WHO results for cholera. In many regions, informal reports closely matched the formal reports in terms of the virulence and pathogenicity of cholera. Additionally, some informal reports added valuable information on outbreaks not captured via formally reporting.
Significance: Formal reporting systems vary globally. While comprehensive formal reporting systems provide the best information for making public health decisions, where such systems do not exist, informal reporting can address knowledge gaps.