Foodborne outbreaks of campylobacteriosis: the United States experience, 1980-1982

During 1980-1982, 23 foodborne outbreaks of diseases caused by Campylobacter were reported to the Centers for Diseases Control through the National Foodborne Surveillance Program, which collects reports from state and territorial epidemiologists throughout the United States. These outbreaks involved 748 ill persons, of whom 4% were hospitalized. For outbreaks with six or more ill persons, the median attack rate was 41%, the mean or median incubation periods ranged from 66 to 120 hours, and the mean duration of symptoms ranged from three to seven days. Raw milk was implicated or suspected in 14 outbreaks. In four of the other outbreaks, food handling errors were identified, and in five outbreaks, poultry, eggs, or beef were implicated or suspected. In three of four outbreaks in which Campylobacter was recovered from cows at the implicated dairies, some isolates from cows were serotypically identical to isolates from ill persons. In one egg-associated outbreak, one of the isolates of Campylobacter recovered from hens at the implicated egg farm was serotypically identical to an isolate recovered from an ill person. These findings underscore the hazard of eating undercooked or raw foods of animal origin such as raw milk. Raw milk contaminated by infected cows is a major cause of foodborne campylobacteriosis in the United States.