An epidemiological study of food poisoning in Korea and Japan

The purpose of this study was to make a comparative epidemiological observation on outbreaks of food poisoning between Korea and Japan, during the period from 1971 to 1990. The mean morbidity rate by fiscal year from 1971 to 1990 was 3.0 per 100,000 population in Korea, and 29.2 in Japan. The mean mortality rate, in Korea was 2.48%, and in Japan, 0.07%. When both morbidity and mortality rates in Korea and Japan were compared during same period, the morbidity rate in Japan was much higher than that in Korea. However, the mortality rate of patients in Korea was much higher than that in Japan. Comparison of food poisoning rates according to food preparation facilities in Korea and Japan was also performed; outbreaks in Korea most frequently involved home-made foods (48% of the total cases), while in Japan, restaurants accorded for 32.7%. Foods most commonly incriminated in Korea were seafood, meat and animal products, grains and vegetables, including mushrooms. In Japan, however, unknown causes, followed by seafood, vegetables, and meat and animal products were the most common. Food poisoning of bacterial origin in Korea was 58.6% of the total case, including Vibrio spp. (37.6%), Salmonella spp. (23.1%), Staphylococcus spp. (14.9%), pathogenic E. coli (6.8%) Clostridium spp. (0.5%) and other species (17.1%). In Japan, the majority of bacterial causes were Vibrio spp. (47.3%), Staphylococcus spp. (24.6%), Salmonella spp. (14.8%), E. coli (3.5%), Clostridium spp. (0.2%) and other species (9.6%). In conclusion, the outbreaks of food poisoning in Korea and Japan may be mainly caused by food handling, and their occurrence may be different according to food sources.