Objectives
This study analyzed trends in foodborne and waterborne diseases in South Korea between 2015 and 2019.
Methods
The data consisted of information on outbreaks of waterborne and foodborne infectious diseases reported through the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) system. We analyzed the trends and epidemiological aspects of outbreaks by month, place of occurrence, and causative pathogens in this observational study.
Results
The number of outbreaks has steadily increased over the last 5 years, but the number of cases per outbreak has followed a decreasing trend. Incidence at daycare centers and preschools has been steadily increasing over consecutive years.
Conclusion
The steady number of patients and decreasing number of cases per outbreak, even as the number of outbreaks has been increasing, suggest that the KCDC’s professional management system is operating effectively. It is necessary to continue improving the objectivity and efficiency of the management system and to carefully examine the increasing number of outbreaks in smaller-scale group catering facilities, such as daycare centers and preschools. Outbreaks can be prevented by closely examining those caused by unidentified pathogens and group outbreaks caused by other diseases, identifying problems, and supplementing the management system.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Waterborne Diseases in Algeria (2000–2023): Spatiotemporal Trends Analysis and Public Health Determinants Aissa Benikdes, Abdelkrim Hazzab, Khaled Korichi, Belaid Fatmi Water Environment Research.2026;[Epub] CrossRef
Epidemiology Study of the Outbreak of Diseases Transmitted through Water and Food in Ardabil Province during the Years 2013-2022 Abdollah Dargahi, Hamed Zandian, Arezoo Ghayeghi, Helia Gholizadeh, Saeed Amini, Mohammad Jafarzadeh The Open Public Health Journal.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Infectious foodborne disease outbreaks and sporadic cases in Saudi Arabia: A 2017–2023 trend analysis Amjad Alfaleh, Abdullah Alkattan, Abrar Alzaher, Khlood Sagor, Saud Almarshoud, Mona H. Ibrahim Infectious Diseases Now.2025; 55(5): 105079. CrossRef
2023–2024년 대구ㆍ경북 수인성 및 식품매개감염병 유행 현황 슬 구, 숙현 김, 명재 황, 소영 박, 유경 김, 상연 조 Public Health Weekly Report.2025; 18(24): 875. CrossRef
An epidemiological investigation of foodborne and waterborne disease outbreaks in Fars Province in Iran from 2020 to 2023 Fatemeh Jafari, Mohammad Mohammadi Abnavi, Yahya Manoochehri, Masoud Ghanbarian, Hamed Karami One Health Bulletin.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Characteristics of Gastroenteritis Outbreaks Investigated in Singapore: 2018–2021 Muhd Tarmidzi Fua’di, Benjamin Er, Sylvester Lee, Pei Pei Chan, Joanna Khoo, Desmond Tan, Huilin Li, Imran Roshan Muhammad, Pream Raj, Lalitha Kurupatham, Vernon Lee, Li Kiang Tan, Joanne Sheot Harn Chan, Angela Li, Kyaw Thu Aung International Journal of Environmental Research an.2024; 21(1): 64. CrossRef
2023년 하절기 수인성ㆍ식품매개감염병 비상방역 체계 운영 결과 성찬 양, 소연 박, 선경 박, 지수 원, 형준 김, 진선 양 Public Health Weekly Report.2024; 17(4): 149. CrossRef
Prevalence of Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli in the feces of free-roaming wildlife throughout South Korea Rahman M. Mafizur, Lim Sangjin, Park Y. Chul, Csaba Varga PLOS ONE.2024; 19(2): e0281006. CrossRef
Characterization of Salmonella species from poultry slaughterhouses in South Korea: carry-over transmission of Salmonella Thompson ST292 in slaughtering process Yewon Cheong, Jun Bong Lee, Se Kye Kim, Jang Won Yoon Journal of Veterinary Science.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
Ultrasensitive quantification of pathogens in milliliters of beverage by filtration-based digital LAMP Yuhua Yan, Tao Yang, Zisheng Luo, Dong Li, Li Li, Xingyu Lin Food Chemistry.2023; 408: 135226. CrossRef
2022년 하절기 수인성 및 식품매개감염병 비상방역체계 운영결과 다슬 김, 인호 김, 형준 김, 지애 심, 지수 원, 진 곽 Public Health Weekly Report.2023; 16(2): 36. CrossRef
The Epidemiological and Clinical Characteristics of the Largest Outbreak of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli in Korea Namwoo Heo, Jihee Lee, Yeonkyung Kim, Donghan Lee, Seok-Jae Heo, Yoon Soo Park, Jae-Won Yun, Yong Chan Kim Journal of Korean Medical Science.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Novel next generation sequencing panel method for the multiple detection and identification of foodborne pathogens in agricultural wastewater Dong-Geun Park, Joon-Gi Kwon, Eun-Su Ha, Byungcheol Kang, Iseul Choi, Jeong-Eun Kwak, Jinho Choi, Woojung Lee, Seung Hwan Kim, Soon Han Kim, Jeongwoong Park, Ju-Hoon Lee Frontiers in Microbiology.2023;[Epub] CrossRef
Survival of murine norovirus and hepatitis A virus in bottled drinking water, strawberries, and oysters Ziwei Zhao, Md Iqbal Hossain, Soontag Jung, Zhaoqi Wang, Daseul Yeo, Mengxiao Song, Ae Min, Sunho Park, Changsun Choi Food Control.2022; 133: 108623. CrossRef
Trends in gastrointestinal infections before and during non-pharmaceutical interventions in Korea in comparison with the United States Soyeoun Kim, Jinhyun Kim, Bo Youl Choi, Boyoung Park Epidemiology and Health.2022; 44: e2022011. CrossRef
Molecular Identification of Bacillus Isolated from Korean Water Deer (Hydropotes inermis argyropus) and Striped Field Mouse (Apodemus agrarius) Feces by Using an SNP-Based 16S Ribosomal Marker Md-Mafizur Rahman, Sang-Jin Lim, Yung-Chul Park Animals.2022; 12(8): 979. CrossRef
Trends in Acute Gastroenteritis through the Pathogen Surveillance System in Incheon Metropolitan City, 2018-2021 Jung Hee Kim, Sung Min Song, Ju Hee Kim, Soo Min Lim, Su Jin Park, Hwa Jung Nam, Young Woo Gong, Mun Ju Kwon Journal of Bacteriology and Virology.2022; 52(2): 54. CrossRef
<sec>
<title>Objectives</title>
<p>It was supposed to analyze status and affecting factors in water and food-borne communicable disease by screening entrants with diarrhea symptom at the point of entry in Korea</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Methods</title>
<p>Symptomatic travelers with water and food-borne communicable diseases who entered Korea were diagnosed by a health declaration and detection of causative agents in water and food using laboratory tests. Among those entered in 2017, the affecting factors in the incidence of communicable diseases among those who had diarrhea at the entry into Korea, were analyzed, with frequency and chi-square test.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Results</title>
<p>The number of travel entrants with gastrointestinal communicable diseases increased by 40.19% from 2013 to 2017. The percentage of causative agents of water and food-borne communicable diseases was the highest at 69.2% from July to September. The rate of detection of causative agents of communicable disease pathogens in travelers from Southeast Asia entering Korea was 70.2%, which was higher than people arriving from East Asia and Central Asia (57.5%; <italic>p</italic> < 0.001).</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Conclusion</title>
<p>The positive ratio of causative agents of water and food-borne communicable diseases was high among travelers that had entered Korea from July to September, with a high number among entrants from Southeast Asia. Based on the positive detection of causative agents, the entry period and countries visited were statistically significant affecting factors (<italic>p</italic> < 0.001).</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Objectives</title>
<p>Investigations into foodborne illness, potentially caused by <italic>Kudoa septempunctata</italic>, has been ongoing in Korea since 2015. However, epidemiological analysis reporting and positive <italic>K septempunctata</italic> detection in feces in Korea has been limited. The aim of this study was to provide epidemiologic data analysis of possible food poisoning caused by <italic>K septempunctata</italic> in Korea.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Methods</title>
<p>This study reviewed 16 <italic>Kudoa</italic> outbreak investigation reports, including suspected cases between 2015 and 2016 in Gyeonggi province, Korea. Suspected <italic>Kudoa</italic> foodborne illness outbreak was defined as “evidence of <italic>K septempunctata</italic> in at least one sample.” The time and place of outbreak, patient symptoms and <italic>Kudoa</italic> (+) detection rate in feces was analyzed.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Results</title>
<p><italic>Kudoa</italic> foodborne illness outbreaks occurred in most patients in August (22.6%) and in most outbreaks in April (25%). The attack rate was 53.9% and the average attack rate in patients who had consumed olive flounder was 64.7%. The average incubation period was 4.3 hours per outbreak. Diarrhea was the most common symptom which was reported by 91.5% patients. The <italic>Kudoa</italic> (+) detection rate in feces was 69.2% of cases.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Conclusion</title>
<p>Monthly distribution of <italic>Kudoa</italic> foodborne illness was different from previous studies. The <italic>Kudoa</italic> (+) detection rate in feces decreased rapidly between 25.5 and 28.5 hours of the time interval from food intake to epidemiologic survey. To identify effective period of time of investigation, we believe additional study with extended number of cases is necessary.</p></sec>
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Significant reduction in norovirus outbreaks and secondary transmission of acute gastroenteritis in Seoul schools following the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective epidemiological study Euncheol Son, Young-Hoon Kim Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science.2025; 42: 65. CrossRef
Taxonomy and phylogeny of Myxobolus branchiostegi sp. nov. (Myxozoa, Myxosporea) infecting the gallbladder of Branchiostegus argentatus Cuvier, 1830 from the East China Sea Yalin Xiong, Yuanjun Zhao, Xue Chen, Mao Wang, Jianjun Peng, Xiaojuan Cui, Chengzhong Yang Zoosystematics and Evolution.2025; 101(4): 2357. CrossRef
Spatiotemporal drivers of foodborne disease seasonality pattern in a coastal city of China Youxia Chen, Zhonghao Yuan, Yiyi Zhang, Kaili Han, Yuelin Sun, Fengguang Dong, Chunbo Gong, Yapeng Huo, Xueying Feng, Guiqiang Wang BMC Public Health.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Food Safety Practices of Food Handlers in China and their Correlation with Self-reported Foodborne Illness Yujuan Chen, Gaihong Wan, Jiangen Song, Jiajia Dai, Wei Shi, Lei Wang Journal of Food Protection.2024; 87(1): 100202. CrossRef
Exploring the Potential Role of the Genus Kudoa (Myxosporea: Kudoidae) as an Emerging Seafood-Borne Parasite in Humans Shokoofeh Shamsi, Diane P. Barton Current Clinical Microbiology Reports.2024; 11(2): 107. CrossRef
Is it possible to eliminate or eradicate human fish-borne parasitic diseases? A sweet dream or a nightmare? Jorge C. Eiras Current Research in Parasitology & Vector-Borne Di.2024; 6: 100203. CrossRef
Ortholinea nupchi n. sp. (Myxosporea: Ortholineidae) from the urinary bladder of the cultured olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus, South Korea Sang Phil Shin, Chang Nam Jin, Hanchang Sohn, Jeongeun Kim, Jehee Lee Parasitology International.2023; 94: 102734. CrossRef
Molecular detection and genotype analysis of Kudoa septempunctata from food poisoning outbreaks in Korea Gyung-Hye Sung, In-Ji Park, Hee-Soo Koo, Eun-Hee Park, Mi-Ok Lee Parasites, Hosts and Diseases.2023; 61(1): 15. CrossRef
Kudoa septempunctata Spores Cause Acute Gastroenteric Symptoms in Mouse and Musk Shrew Models as Evidenced In Vitro in Human Colon Cells Sung-Hee Hong, Ji-Young Kwon, Soon-Ok Lee, Hee-Il Lee, Sung-Jong Hong, Jung-Won Ju Pathogens.2023; 12(5): 739. CrossRef
Detection and characterization of Kudoa thunni from uncooked yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares) in Southeast Asia Truong Dinh Hoai, Doan Thi Nhinh, Nguyen Thi Huong Giang, Saengchan Senapin, Ha Thanh Dong Parasitology International.2022; 87: 102536. CrossRef
Descriptive study of foodborne disease using disease monitoring data in Zhejiang Province, China, 2016–2020 Xiaojuan Qi, Xialidan Alifu, Jiang Chen, Wenliang Luo, Jikai Wang, Yunxian Yu, Ronghua Zhang BMC Public Health.2022;[Epub] CrossRef
A review of food poisoning caused by local food in Japan Takashi Watari, Takayuki Tachibana, Azusa Okada, Kasumi Nishikawa, Kazuya Otsuki, Nobuhiro Nagai, Haruki Abe, Yasuhisa Nakano, Soshi Takagi, Yu Amano Journal of General and Family Medicine.2021; 22(1): 15. CrossRef
Recent (2011–2017) foodborne outbreak cases in the Republic of Korea compared to the United States: a review Sang-Oh Kim, Sang-Soon Kim Food Science and Biotechnology.2021; 30(2): 185. CrossRef
A study on Kudoa septempunctata infection from
sashimi and sushi of olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus in
Busan, South Korea Hee-soo Koo, Ji-young Park, Gyung-hye Sung, Eun-hee Park, Pyeong-tae Ku, Mi-ok Lee Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences.2021; 24(8): 277. CrossRef
Effect of environmental factors on microbiological quality of oyster farming in Amazon estuaries Osnan Lennon Lameira Silva, Samara Maria Modesto Veríssimo, Adrianne Maria Brito Pinheiro da Rosa, Yuri Barbosa Iguchi, Emilia do Socorro Conceição de Lima Nunes, Carina Martins de Moraes, Carlos Alberto Martins Cordeiro, Diego de Arruda Xavier, Anne Suel Aquaculture Reports.2020; 18: 100437. CrossRef
A new species Myxodavisia jejuensis n. sp. (Myxosporea: Sinuolineidae) isolated from cultured olive flounder Paralichthys olivaceus in South Korea Sang Phil Shin, Chang Nam Jin, Han Chang Sohn, Hiroshi Yokoyama, Jehee Lee Parasitology Research.2019; 118(11): 3105. CrossRef
Kudoa ogawai (Myxosporea: Kudoidae) Infection in Cultured Olive Flounder Paralichthys olivaceus Sang Phil Shin, Chang Nam Jin, Han Chang Sohn, Jehee Lee The Korean Journal of Parasitology.2019; 57(4): 439. CrossRef
Objectives
In Korea, every outbreak of acute gastroenteritis in two or more patients who are epidemiologically related is investigated by local public health centres to determine causative agents and control the outbreak with the support of the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The findings and conclusions of each outbreak investigation have been summarized annually since 2007 to make reports and statistics of water- and foodborne disease outbreaks. Methods
All outbreaks reported to Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2007 to 2009 were included in the study. We analysed the trends and epidemiologic aspects of outbreaks by month, year, and location. Results
The total number of outbreaks decreased steadily each year for the period the study covered, whereas the number of patients per outbreak continued to increase resulting from a dramatic increase in the number of patients per outbreak in food service establishments. The outbreaks occurred in the period of June to September, when temperature and humidity are relatively high, which accounted for 44.3% of total outbreaks. The monthly number of outbreaks decreased steadily until November after peaking in May 2009. The most common causative agent was norovirus (16.5%) followed by pathogenic <i>Escherichia coli</i>. The rate of causative agent identification was 60.1%, with higher identification rates in larger outbreaks. Conclusions
Although a decreasing trend of outbreaks by year was observed in the study, the food services in schools and companies require more attention to hygiene and sanitation to prevent large outbreaks. The ability to establish the cause of an outbreak should be further improved.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Genetic characterization and in silico serotyping of 62 Salmonella enterica isolated from Korean poultry operations Hyunhee Hong, Miseon Kang, Avery Haymowicz, Hoang Ngoc Minh Le, Eiseul Kim, Seung Min Yang, Sang-Do Ha, Hyun Jung Kim, Si Hong Park BMC Genomics.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
Significant reduction in norovirus outbreaks and secondary transmission of acute gastroenteritis in Seoul schools following the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective epidemiological study Euncheol Son, Young-Hoon Kim Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science.2025; 42: 65. CrossRef
2023년 하절기 수인성ㆍ식품매개감염병 비상방역 체계 운영 결과 성찬 양, 소연 박, 선경 박, 지수 원, 형준 김, 진선 양 Public Health Weekly Report.2024; 17(4): 149. CrossRef
Prevalence of Salmonella spp. and Escherichia coli in the feces of free-roaming wildlife throughout South Korea Rahman M. Mafizur, Lim Sangjin, Park Y. Chul, Csaba Varga PLOS ONE.2024; 19(2): e0281006. CrossRef
Application of sodium hypochlorite for human norovirus and hepatitis A virus inactivation in groundwater Eun Bi Jeon, Anamika Roy, Shin Young Park, John R. Spear Applied and Environmental Microbiology.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
2022년 하절기 수인성 및 식품매개감염병 비상방역체계 운영결과 다슬 김, 인호 김, 형준 김, 지애 심, 지수 원, 진 곽 Public Health Weekly Report.2023; 16(2): 36. CrossRef
Trends in recent waterborne and foodborne disease outbreaks in South Korea, 2015–2019 Sang Hyuk Lee, Jae-Won Yun, Ji Hee Lee, Yeon Haw Jung, Dong Han Lee Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives.2021; 12(2): 73. CrossRef
Nationwide surveillance on serotype distribution and antimicrobial resistance profiles of non-typhoidal Salmonella serovars isolated from food-producing animals in South Korea Abraham Fikru Mechesso, Dong Chan Moon, Su-Jeong Kim, Hyun-Ju Song, Hee Young Kang, Seok Hyeon Na, Ji-Hyun Choi, Ha-Young Kim, Soon-Seek Yoon, Suk-Kyung Lim International Journal of Food Microbiology.2020; 335: 108893. CrossRef
Development of an HTS system to identify natural chemicals that specifically inhibit Escherichia coli O157:H7 adhesion to host cells Seung Min Kim, Hyun Jung Kim Food Control.2017; 73: 185. CrossRef
Epidemiological relationships of Campylobacter jejuni strains isolated from humans and chickens in South Korea Jae-Young Oh, Yong-Kuk Kwon, Bai Wei, Hyung-Kwan Jang, Suk-Kyung Lim, Cheon-Hyeon Kim, Suk-Chan Jung, Min-Su Kang Journal of Microbiology.2017; 55(1): 13. CrossRef
A large outbreak of acute gastroenteritis caused by the human norovirus GII.17 strain at a university in Henan Province, China Xue-Yong Huang, Jia Su, Qian-Chao Lu, Shi-Zheng Li, Jia-Yong Zhao, Meng-Lei Li, Yi Li, Xiao-Jing Shen, Bai-Fan Zhang, Hai-Feng Wang, Yu-Jiao Mu, Shu-Yu Wu, Yan-Hua Du, Li-Cheng Liu, Wei-Jun Chen, John David Klena, Bian-Li Xu Infectious Diseases of Poverty.2017;[Epub] CrossRef
Consecutive Outbreaks of EnterotoxigenicEscherichia coliO6 in Schools in South Korea Caused by Contamination of Fermented Vegetable Kimchi Jaeseung Shin, Ki-Bok Yoon, Doo-Young Jeon, Sung-Suk Oh, Kyung-Hwan Oh, Gyung Tae Chung, Seung Woo Kim, Seung-Hak Cho Foodborne Pathogens and Disease.2016; 13(10): 535. CrossRef
Prevalence and characterization of Salmonella in pigs from conventional and organic farms and first report of S. serovar 1,4,[5],12:i:- from Korea Migma Dorji Tamang, Mamata Gurung, Hyang-Mi Nam, Dong Chan Moon, Su-Ran Kim, Geum-Chan Jang, Dae-Yeong Jung, Suk-Chan Jung, Yong-Ho Park, Suk-Kyung Lim Veterinary Microbiology.2015; 178(1-2): 119. CrossRef
First norovirus outbreaks associated with consumption of green seaweed (Enteromorpha spp.) in South Korea J. H. PARK, H. S. JEONG, J. S. LEE, S. W. LEE, Y. H. CHOI, S. J. CHOI, I. S. JOO, Y. R. KIM, Y. K. PARK, S. K. YOUN Epidemiology and Infection.2015; 143(3): 515. CrossRef
Antimicrobial Susceptibility and Virulence Characteristics of Salmonella enterica Typhimurium Isolates from Healthy and Diseased Pigs in Korea Migma Dorji Tamang, Mamata Gurung, Hyang-Mi Nam, Dong Chan Moon, Geum-Chan Jang, Suk-Chan Jung, Suk-Kyung Lim Journal of Food Protection.2014; 77(9): 1481. CrossRef
Emerging Pathogens and Vehicles of Food- and Water-borne Disease Outbreaks in Korea, 2007–2012 Shinje Moon, Il-Woong Sohn, Yeongseon Hong, Hyungmin Lee, Ji-Hyuk Park, Geun-Yong Kwon, Sangwon Lee, Seung-Ki Youn Osong Public Health and Research Perspectives.2014; 5(1): 34. CrossRef
Diarrheal Outbreak Caused by Atypical EnteropathogenicEscherichia coliO157:H45 in South Korea Ji-Hyuk Park, Sung-Suk Oh, Kyung-Hwan Oh, Jaeseung Shin, Eun Jung Jang, Byung-Yool Jun, Seung-Ki Youn, Seung-Hak Cho Foodborne Pathogens and Disease.2014; 11(10): 775. CrossRef
Efficiency of fractionated γ-irradiation doses to eliminate vegetative cells and spores of Bacillus cereus from raw rice Adelard B. Mtenga, Neema Kassim, Won-Bo Shim, Duck-Hwa Chung Food Science and Biotechnology.2013; 22(2): 577. CrossRef
Norovirus Contamination Levels in Ground Water Treatment Systems Used for Food-Catering Facilities in South Korea Bo-Ram Lee, Sung-Geun Lee, Jong-Hyun Park, Kwang-Yup Kim, Sang-Ryeol Ryu, Ok-Jae Rhee, Jeong-Woong Park, Jeong-Su Lee, Soon-Young Paik Viruses.2013; 5(7): 1646. CrossRef
A review of microbial biofilms of produce: Future challenge to food safety Iqbal Kabir Jahid, Sang-Do Ha Food Science and Biotechnology.2012; 21(2): 299. CrossRef
First
Prev
