Foodborne Illness Outbreaks

Confirmed Foodborne Outbreaks

A confirmed foodborne disease outbreak is defined as an incident in which two or more persons experience a similar illness after ingestion of a common food or meal and epidemiologic evaluation implicates the meal or food as the source of illness. Confirmed outbreaks may or may not be laboratory-confirmed.

Confirmed outbreaks may be classified as:

1. Laboratory-Confirmed Agent: Outbreaks in which laboratory evidence of a specific etiologic agent is obtained.
2. Epidemiologically Defined Agent: Outbreaks in which the clinical and epidemiologic evidence defines a likely agent, but laboratory confirmation is not obtained.
3. Outbreak of Undetermined Etiology: Outbreaks in which laboratory confirmation is not obtained and clinical and epidemiologic evidence cannot define a likely agent.

Probable Foodborne Outbreaks

A probable foodborne disease outbreak is defined as an incident in which two or more persons experience a similar illness after ingestion of a common food or meal, and a specific food or meal is suspected, but person-to-person transmission or other exposures cannot be ruled out.

This is an excerpt from the Summary of Gastroenteritis Outbreaks in Minnesota