Journal of Environmental Health Sciences (한국환경보건학회지)

Korean Society of Environmental Health (한국환경보건학회)
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Influence of Climate Factors on the Occurrence of Pathogenic Escherichia coli Food Poisoning in Korea

우리나라에서 병원성 대장균 식중독 발생과 기후요소의 영향

  • Kim, Jong-Gyu (Faculty of Food and Health Sciences, College of National Sciences, Keimyung University)
  • 김종규 (계명대학교 자연과학대학 식품보건학부 공중보건학전공)
  • Received : 2020.06.01
  • Accepted : 2020.06.19
  • Published : 2020.06.30
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Abstract

Objectives: An outbreak of pathogenic Escherichia coli food poisoning in Korea was first reported in 1998. They have continued to occure since then. This study was performed to describe the long-term trend in pathogenic E. coli food poisoning occurrences in Korea and examine the relation with climate factors. Methods: Official Korean statistics on food poisoning outbreaks and meteorological data for the period 2002-2017 were used. Pearson's correlation analysis was employed to establish the relationship between outbreaks of pathogenic E. coli food poisoning and meteorological factors. The influence of meteorological factors upon the outbreaks was analyzed by regression analysis. Results: During the study period, pathogenic E. coli food poisoning ranked second for the number of outbreaks (excluding unknowns) and first for the number of cases. Average temperature, the highest and lowest temperatures, precipitation, number of days with rainfall, and humidity all had a significant correlation with monthly number of outbreaks of pathogenic E. coli food poisoning (p<0.001). It was found that the lowest and highest temperatures and precipitation had a significant influence on the monthly number of outbreaks of food poisoning (p<0.001). These variables together explained 42.1% of the total variance, with the lowest temperature having the greatest explanatory power. Conclusion: These results show that food poisoning incidences may have been influenced by climate change, especially warming. The results also suggest that pathogenic E. coli infections are now an important public health issue in Korea since it is one of the countries where climate change is occurring rapidly.

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