CDC: Salmonella rates drop, Campylobacter infections on the rise

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has published its annual report on the progress made in attempts to reduce foodborne diseases in 2013. CDC concluded that the overall result achieved last year indicated "limited progress."

The good news from the report was that the rates of salmonella-related outbreaks went down nine percent, dropping to the baseline rates recorded between 2006 and 2008. However, data showed that campylobacter infections have seen a 13 percent increase in the last seven years. Even more alarmingly, vibrio infections, which are often caused by raw shellfish consumption, reached a historic high last year. On a slightly more positive note, the most dangerous type of Vibro infection, Vibrio vulnificus, has remained stable over the same period. Other foodborne diseases tracked by CDC have also remained unchanged, the report said.

Commenting on the findings, Robert Tauxe, deputy director of CDC's Division of Foodborne, Waterborne and Environmental Diseases, said that the reduction of salmonella rates was a positive development, but there was still more to be done by the food industry and at federal level to ensure the declining trend persisted. Federal agencies have been preparing new standards and procedures for oversight and control of poultry processing, along with tighter control over the food industry and the food supply chain as a whole, CDC added.