Purpose: The purpose of this study was to estimate the burden of foodborne illnesses associated with the three pathogens for whole of Japan, using data also covering other prefectures.
Methods: Data on laboratory-confirmed infections of the three pathogens were collected from clinical laboratories that test stool samples submitted from all over Japan or from Miyagi Prefecture, from January 2006 to December 2010. The stool submission rate and the physician consultation rate were estimated from two population telephone surveys conducted in Miyagi prefecture. Each estimate was introduced into a Monte-Carlo simulation model as a probability distribution, which was run for 10,000 iterations.
Results: The physician consultation rate and the stool submission rate of the diarrheal cases were estimated from the combined telephone survey data as 32% and 11%, respectively. The estimated mean numbers per year of foodborne illnesses for Campylobacter, Salmonella and V. parahaemolyticus in whole of Japan were approximately 3.4-4.7 million, 690-800 thousand, and 50-150 thousand during 2006-2010, respectively. The numbers of reported foodborne illnesses per year in Japan during 2006-2010, for Campylobacter, Salmonella and V. parahaemolyticus, were approximately 2,100-3,100, 1,500-3,600 and 170-1,300, respectively.
Significance: These data reveal a significant difference between our estimate of burden of foodborne illness and the reported foodborne disease cases associated with the three pathogens. Need for active surveillance system to complement the present passive surveillance is strongly suggested, in order to identify and prioritize food safety issue more precisely and to monitor the effectiveness of risk management options.