Salmonella, Shigella and Campylobacter: Disparities in Houston, Texas (2000 – 2007)

Salmonella, Shigella and Campylobacter are among the most common bacterial diseases in the United States (US) and are monitored by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). CDC estimates that about 76 million cases, 325,000 hospitalizations and 5,000 deaths related to foodborne diseases (FBD) occur each year in the US. For disease prevention purposes, it is vital to understand the FBD epidemiology in a large metropolitan city such as Houston.

Eight year surveillance data (2000 – 2007) were extracted from the Houston Department of Health and Human Services (HDHHS) database. Houston population was obtained from the US Census Bureau. Average annual incidence rates of Salmonella, Shigella and Campylobacter were computed by age, ethnicity and gender.

The eight year average incidence rate of Shigella (10 per 100,000) in the Houston population exceeded the US average (6.77). Hispanics are disproportionately affected by Shigella (11.1) compared to Whites (3.5) and Salmonella (9.9) compared to Blacks (6.5). For all three FBD, the incidence rates of children less than 10 years of age are up to 10 times the rate of those older than 10 and those living in the Southwest (70.8) and Northeast (69.1) regions of Houston have the highest incidence rates.

The study showed obvious disparities in the epidemiology of FBD in Houston. The understanding of this epidemiology in relation to ethnicity and age will enhance both the prevention efforts and outbreak control measures of the local health department. This reduces the disease burden in these populations.