LONG-TERM SEQUELAE TO FOODBORNE DISEASE

Most of the concern about foodborne disease has been focused on the im mediate effects of acute infection. Recent information has shown that many of these foodborne infections also have long-term sequelae with s erious health effects and a significant economic impact. To increase t he awareness of animal health professionals to these sequelae, the aut hors discuss two groups of sequelae which are strongly associated with preceding infection (reactive arthritides, including Reiter's syndrom e, and the Guillain-Barre syndrome) as well as the possible associatio n between Crohn's disease and Mycobacterium paratuberculosis. The disc ussion includes a description of the disease syndromes along with epid emiological and economic information. More reliable epidemiological an d economic data on chronic sequelae to foodborne disease will be neede d for future evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of mitigation strate gies to reduce the occurrence of foodborne pathogens.