Surveillance of Foodborne Disease II. Summary and Presentation of Descriptive Data and Epidemiologic Patterns; Their Value and Limitations

This second part of a four-part series on foodborne disease surveillance concentrates on tabulation of data to show the common diseases and to detect those emerging in a community, region or nation. Over several years, these data give a continued description of foodborne illnesses. The presentation starts with a summarization of the incidents, outbreaks, and cases that occur over a defined interval and continues with a breakdown of specific etiologic agents or diseases that make up the summary figures. Suggested tables showing time and place of occurrences are given. These, along with data on persons who acquire these diseases, form the epidemiologic patterns of foodborne diseases. Definitions of the terms used in the table and criteria for confirming categories of etiologic agents are given. The value and limitations of each set of data in the tables are critically reviewed. The same sort of presentation is continued for data on vehicles, method of processing and preparation, and contributory factors in the next part of this series.