Table 1.
Characteristics of outbreaks of Salmonella enterica infections where beef was the implicated food vehicle, by beef type, United States, 1973–2011
| Characteristic | N | Roast, n (%) | Ground, n (%) | Other types*, n (%) | Unknown, n (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Outbreaks | 96 | 26 (27) | 22 (23) | 30 (31) | 18 (19) |
| Illnesses | 3 684 | 1 381 (37) | 916 (25) | 911 (25) | 476 (13) |
| Median per outbreak (range) | 29 (2–200) | 47 (4–200) | 36 (3–158) | 15 (2–130) | 19 (3–75) |
| Hospitalizations | 318 | 73 (23) | 141 (44) | 72 (23) | 32 (10) |
| Median per outbreak (range) | 2 (0–22) | 2 (0–19) | 5 (0–22) | 0 (0–20) | 2 (0–6) |
| Deaths | 5 | 1 (20) | 4 (80) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Median per outbreak (range) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0–1) | 0 (0–2) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Female† | 558 (52) | 183 (49) | 180 (58) | 154 (51) | 41 (48) |
| Aged 20–49 years‡ | 500 (50) | 199 (53) | 137 (44) | 107 (49) | 57 (66) |
| Setting of food preparation§ | |||||
| Restaurant or delicatessen | 35 (40) | 10 (42) | 4 (21) | 16 (55) | 5 (29) |
| Private home | 25 (28) | 1 (4) | 12 (63) | 4 (14) | 8 (47) |
| Processing plant | 15 (17) | 9 (38) | 0 (0) | 5 (17) | 1 (6) |
| Other or unspecified¶ | 34 (39) | 8 (33) | 10 (53) | 11 (38) | 5 (29) |
| Contributing factors|| | |||||
| Improper food handling | 21 (67) | 2 (50) | 8 (47) | 8 (50) | 3 (33) |
| Environmental contamination | 19 (61) | 0 (0) | 10 (59) | 6 (38) | 3 (33) |
| Cross-contamination | 14 (45) | 3 (75) | 2 (12) | 5 (31) | 4 (44) |
| Worker contamination | 7 (23) | 1 (25) | 2 (12) | 2 (13) | 2 (22) |
| Other contamination | 2 (6) | 0 (0) | 1 (6) | 1 (6) | 0 (0) |
Eight types of beef were reported: steak (8 outbreaks); brisket and jerky (7 outbreaks each); barbecued (4); barbacoa, beef blood, ribs, tripe (1 each).
Gender data collected since 1998; information available for 36 (78%) outbreaks.
Age data collected since 1998; age distribution available for 33 (72%) outbreaks.
Not mutually exclusive; 88 (92%) outbreak reports included data on at least one food preparation setting (24 roast beef, 19 ground beef, 29 other type, 17 unknown beef type); 69 outbreaks reported only one setting (20 roast beef, 12 ground beef, 22 other type, and 15 unknown beef type).
Other or unspecified setting: unspecified (11 reports); school (5); cafeteria or hall, caterer, supermarket or grocery store (4 each); church or temple, fair, festival, or other temporary mobile food service (2 each); picnic, field dressed cow (1 each).
Not mutually exclusive; data on contributing factors were collected beginning in 1998. At least one contributing factor was reported for 31 (67%) of the 46 outbreaks (4 roast beef, 17 ground beef, 16 other, and 9 unknown) reported during 1998 to 2011.