摘要：Microbial pathogens in food cause an estimated 6.5-33 million cases of humanillness and up to 9,000 deaths in the United States each year. Over 40 differentfoodborne microbial pathogens, including fungi, viruses, parasites, and bacteria,are believed to cause human illnesses. For six bacterial pathogens, the costs ofhuman illness are estimated to be $9.3-$12.9 billion annually. Of these costs,$2.9-$6.7 billion are attributed to foodborne bacteria. These estimates weredeveloped to provide analytical support for USDA's Hazard Analysis andCritical Control Point (HACCP) systems rule for meat and poultry. (Note thatthe parasite Toxoplasma gondii is not included in this report.) To estimate med-ical costs and productivity losses, ERS uses four severity categories for acuteillnesses: those who did not visit a physician, visited a physician, were hospital-ized, or died prematurely. The lifetime consequences of chronic disease areincluded in the cost estimates for E. coli O157:H7 and fetal listeriosis.
关键词：cost-of-illness; foodborne pathogens; lost productivity; medical;costs.
