Attribution of country level foodborne disease to food group and food types in three African countries: Conclusions from a structured expert judgment study

Background According to the World Health Organization, 600 million cases of foodborne disease occurred in 2010. To inform risk management strategies aimed at reducing this burden, attribution to specific foods is necessary. Objective We present attribution estimates for foodborne pathogens (Campylo...

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Autores principales: Sapp, A.C., Amaya, M.P., Havelaar, A.H., Nane, G.F.
Formato: Journal Article
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129220
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author Sapp, A.C.
Amaya, M.P.
Havelaar, A.H.
Nane, G.F.
author_browse Amaya, M.P.
Havelaar, A.H.
Nane, G.F.
Sapp, A.C.
author_facet Sapp, A.C.
Amaya, M.P.
Havelaar, A.H.
Nane, G.F.
author_sort Sapp, A.C.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Background According to the World Health Organization, 600 million cases of foodborne disease occurred in 2010. To inform risk management strategies aimed at reducing this burden, attribution to specific foods is necessary. Objective We present attribution estimates for foodborne pathogens (Campylobacter spp., enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), Shiga-toxin producing E. coli, nontyphoidal Salmonella enterica, Cryptosporidium spp., Brucella spp., and Mycobacterium bovis) in three African countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Rwanda) to support risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis in three projects aimed at increasing safety of beef, dairy, poultry meat and vegetables in these countries. Methods We used the same methodology as the World Health Organization, i.e., Structured Expert Judgment according to Cooke’s Classical Model, using three different panels for the three countries. Experts were interviewed remotely and completed calibration questions during the interview without access to any resources. They then completed target questions after the interview, using resources as considered necessary. Expert data were validated using two objective measures, calibration score or statistical accuracy, and information score. Performance-based weights were derived from the two measures to aggregate experts’ distributions into a so-called decision maker. The analysis was made using Excalibur software, and resulting distributions were normalized using Monte Carlo simulation. Results Individual experts’ uncertainty assessments resulted in modest statistical accuracy and high information scores, suggesting overconfident assessments. Nevertheless, the optimized item-weighted decision maker was statistically accurate and informative. While there is no evidence that animal pathogenic ETEC strains are infectious to humans, a sizeable proportion of ETEC illness was attributed to animal source foods as experts considered contamination of food products by infected food handlers can occur at any step in the food chain. For all pathogens, a major share of the burden was attributed to food groups of interest. Within food groups, the highest attribution was to products consumed raw, but processed products were also considered important sources of infection. Conclusions Cooke’s Classical Model with performance-based weighting provided robust uncertainty estimates of the attribution of foodborne disease in three African countries. Attribution estimates will be combined with country-level estimates of the burden of foodborne disease to inform decision making by national authorities.
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spelling CGSpace1292202025-10-26T12:51:47Z Attribution of country level foodborne disease to food group and food types in three African countries: Conclusions from a structured expert judgment study Sapp, A.C. Amaya, M.P. Havelaar, A.H. Nane, G.F. food safety animal products meat dairying poultry vegetables Background According to the World Health Organization, 600 million cases of foodborne disease occurred in 2010. To inform risk management strategies aimed at reducing this burden, attribution to specific foods is necessary. Objective We present attribution estimates for foodborne pathogens (Campylobacter spp., enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), Shiga-toxin producing E. coli, nontyphoidal Salmonella enterica, Cryptosporidium spp., Brucella spp., and Mycobacterium bovis) in three African countries (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Rwanda) to support risk assessment and cost-benefit analysis in three projects aimed at increasing safety of beef, dairy, poultry meat and vegetables in these countries. Methods We used the same methodology as the World Health Organization, i.e., Structured Expert Judgment according to Cooke’s Classical Model, using three different panels for the three countries. Experts were interviewed remotely and completed calibration questions during the interview without access to any resources. They then completed target questions after the interview, using resources as considered necessary. Expert data were validated using two objective measures, calibration score or statistical accuracy, and information score. Performance-based weights were derived from the two measures to aggregate experts’ distributions into a so-called decision maker. The analysis was made using Excalibur software, and resulting distributions were normalized using Monte Carlo simulation. Results Individual experts’ uncertainty assessments resulted in modest statistical accuracy and high information scores, suggesting overconfident assessments. Nevertheless, the optimized item-weighted decision maker was statistically accurate and informative. While there is no evidence that animal pathogenic ETEC strains are infectious to humans, a sizeable proportion of ETEC illness was attributed to animal source foods as experts considered contamination of food products by infected food handlers can occur at any step in the food chain. For all pathogens, a major share of the burden was attributed to food groups of interest. Within food groups, the highest attribution was to products consumed raw, but processed products were also considered important sources of infection. Conclusions Cooke’s Classical Model with performance-based weighting provided robust uncertainty estimates of the attribution of foodborne disease in three African countries. Attribution estimates will be combined with country-level estimates of the burden of foodborne disease to inform decision making by national authorities. 2022-09-12 2023-03-07T14:09:21Z 2023-03-07T14:09:21Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129220 en Open Access Sapp, A.C., Amaya, M.P., Havelaar, A.H. and Nane, G.F. 2022. Attribution of country level foodborne disease to food group and food types in three African countries: Conclusions from a structured expert judgment study. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 16(9): e0010663.
spellingShingle food safety
animal products
meat
dairying
poultry
vegetables
Sapp, A.C.
Amaya, M.P.
Havelaar, A.H.
Nane, G.F.
Attribution of country level foodborne disease to food group and food types in three African countries: Conclusions from a structured expert judgment study
title Attribution of country level foodborne disease to food group and food types in three African countries: Conclusions from a structured expert judgment study
title_full Attribution of country level foodborne disease to food group and food types in three African countries: Conclusions from a structured expert judgment study
title_fullStr Attribution of country level foodborne disease to food group and food types in three African countries: Conclusions from a structured expert judgment study
title_full_unstemmed Attribution of country level foodborne disease to food group and food types in three African countries: Conclusions from a structured expert judgment study
title_short Attribution of country level foodborne disease to food group and food types in three African countries: Conclusions from a structured expert judgment study
title_sort attribution of country level foodborne disease to food group and food types in three african countries conclusions from a structured expert judgment study
topic food safety
animal products
meat
dairying
poultry
vegetables
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129220
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