A Review of Surveillance Networks of Food-Borne Diseases

Food-borne diseases include infections caused by bacteria, parasites, and viruses. Each year, millions of persons experience food-borne illness, although only a fraction seek medical care, and an even smaller number submit laboratory specimens. To monitor the impact of these food-borne pathogens on human health, systems giving further information are required; a food-borne disease surveillance program is an essential part of a food safety program. Food-borne surveillance should be able to issue early alerts about contaminated food to which a large population is exposed, report food-borne disease incidents on a regular basis, and use sentinel and specific epidemiological studies as required. This chapter is a short overview of various surveillance networks specializing in food-borne diseases.