2023 Highlights
- Campylobacteriosis was the most common bacterial foodborne disease reported in 2023, with 1,831 cases (1,140 culture-confirmed).
- Confirmation rates for specimens that tested positive at a clinical laboratory ranged from 25.8% to 90.0%.
- 753 Minnesotans were hospitalized for a bacterial foodborne disease in 2023.
Culture-independent diagnostic tests (CIDTs) continue to be commonly used in clinical laboratories for diagnosis of diarrheal illness. Confirmation rates at the MDH Public Health Laboratory (PHL) for specimens tested by CIDTs in 2023 ranged from 25.8% (for Shigella) to 90.0% (for Salmonella).
Together, a total of 3,960 cases of Campylobacter, Salmonella, Vibrio, Listeria, Shigella, and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC) infection were reported in 2023. Incidence of culture-confirmed disease ranged from 0.2 cases per 100,000 population (for Listeria) to 20.0 (for Campylobacter).
These cases were part of 38 identified outbreaks in 2023, including 23 Salmonella outbreaks, 10 STEC outbreaks, four Campylobacter outbreaks, and one Vibrio outbreak. In addition, 234 foodborne or enteric illness outbreaks due to other or unknown etiologies were investigated in 2023, including 211 norovirus outbreaks.
Foodborne disease can be severe – 753 cases were hospitalized in 2023, and 14 died. Hospitalization rates for culture-confirmed cases ranged from 15.5% (for Campylobacter) to 88.9% (for Listeria).
The top three bacterial foodborne diseases continued to exhibit marked summer seasonality in 2023, with Campylobacter and STEC peaking in August (258 and 111 cases, respectively) and Salmonella peaking in July (144 cases).