Sequelae Septicemia, abortion, localized infections, arthritis, hemolytic uremic syndrome, Guillain-Barr syndrome, death. Transmission Ingestion of contaminated food, with or without subsequent spread from person to person by the fecal-oral route. Infants, elderly, and the immunocompromised at greatest risk of serious illness and death. Overall incidence of reported outbreaks has not changed, but proportion caused by fruits and vegetables has been increasing. Resistance of foodborne pathogens to antimicrobial agents is increasing.
Challenges Identify new foodborne pathogens.
Define points of effective intervention. Implement and evaluate control strategies. Opportunities Identification of control points provides opportunity to directly intervene in the transmission of specific foodborne pathogens.