Foodborne Illnesses Like Salmonella Can be an Elusive Diagnosis

Many foodborne illnesses are not easily identified by routine laboratory tests and may require specialized, experimental, and expensive tests that are not always available to the general public.  If a food poisoning diagnosis is to be made, the patient must seek medical attention, the physician should order diagnostic tests, and the laboratory should use the appropriate procedures. Many foodborne illness victims never seek medical attention, and for those that do seek attention, some are never tested. Because of this discrepancy, many cases of foodborne illness go undiagnosed.  CDC estimates that up to 38 cases of salmonellosis, a Salmonella bacteria infection, occur for every case that is actually diagnosed and reported to public health authorities.