Economic Burden of Major Foodborne Illnesses Acquired in the United States

Each year, approximately 48 million people become ill from foodborne illnesses in the United States. In only 20 percent of these cases (9.4 million illnesses) can a specific pathogen cause be identified; over 90 percent of these cases are caused by only 15 pathogens. This report summarizes recent estimates showing that these 9.4 million illnesses impose over $15.5 billion in economic burden annually. The report also provides “pamphlets” for each of these 15 foodborne pathogens that include: (1) a summary of information about the pathogen’s foodborne illness incidence and economic burden relative to other foodborne pathogens; (2) a disease-outcome tree showing the number of people experiencing different outcomes caused by foodborne exposure to the pathogen in the United States each year; and (3) a pie chart showing the economic burden associated with different health outcomes resulting from infection with the pathogen. This report complements the ERS data product, Cost-of-Illness Estimates for Major Foodborne Illnesses in the U.S.