Comment by arcticbull
7 years ago
Sorry, do you have some source data for that? Is the difference entirely attributable to the way eggs are stored and processed, or are the Europeans getting salmonella from other sources? It is my understanding that the US and EU have fairly different agricultural regulatory frameworks.
The _confirmed_ incidence rates in years 2015 and 2016 are 14.85 and 14.51 (cases per 100000 population) in the USA, and 21.0 and 20.4 in the EU. Sources:
* National Enteric Disease Surveillance: Salmonella Annual Report, 2016
https://www.cdc.gov/nationalsurveillance/pdfs/2016-Salmonell...
* Annual Epidemiological Report for 2016: Salmonellosis
https://ecdc.europa.eu/sites/portal/files/documents/AER_for_...
However, the incidence rates vary widely among European countries. Portugal had very low (< 4) incidence rates over the period 2012-2016, while the figures in Czech Republic over the same period were ridiculously high (around 100).
In the UK, where eggs sold on shelves apparently are required by law _not_ to be washed, the incidence rates in 2015 and 2016 are 14.6 and 15.1, which are on par with the US figures.
Does salmonella go under-reported in the USA due to healthcare not being free at the point of use?
Not sure but I suspect the EU to have larger regulatory variance among member countries, as well as likely overall lower cost barriers to obtaining a diagnoses.
I think a lot has to do with folks in the US being more OCD about cleaning their food. For example, most people in the US would never eat cheese that was crawling with visible mold and bacteria but the French prefer it that way (so I was told by a French friend. he said cheese must have 'the bugs')
On mobile, I googled some papers, but it would be too annoying to go back and copy paste. You can confirm these pretty quick though.