Following a huge national shortage of baby formula last year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and states will start tracking cases of cronobacter.
Beginning next year, the CDC will start tracking infections caused by cronobacter which was the pathogen involved in last year’s baby formula crisis, according to the Washington Post. The decision came after a recommendation from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists.
Cronobacter will be added to a national watchlist of diseases and infections, according to The Associated Press.
The outbreak started in 2021 after four babies were fed formula made at Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis, Michigan, plant, according to the AP. Two of the babies died. There was no direct link found between Abbott products and the infections, but the Food and Drug Administration closed the plant after there were some contamination and other issues found.
Abbott then recalled top baby formula brands which led to a nationwide shortage of baby formula that lasted months, according to the AP.
Cronobacter sakazakii is a germ that is found in the environment, according to the CDC. Cronobacter lives in dry foods such as baby formula, powdered milk, starches, and herbal teas. It can also be found in contaminated feeding items such as breast pump equipment.
States will be asked to notify the CDC about any cronobacter infections but are not required to, according to the AP. So far, infections are required to be reported in only two states -- Minnesota and Michigan.
The first case of cronobacter infection linked to the baby formula was discovered by Minnesota officials in 2021. It was reported to the FDA which led to the CDC, clinicians and state and local health departments to share information about the infection. Other cases were discovered and reported in Ohio and Texas, according to the Post.
The change will take effect next year, the AP says, but states can report earlier if they choose to.
Members of the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists worked with the CDC, FDA representatives and the Association of Public Health Laboratories on the decision to track cronobacter infections, the Post reported.
“These efforts will assist public health agencies in quantifying and identifying the cause of cronobacter infections,” Janet Hamilton, CSTE’s executive director, said in a statement the newspaper obtained. Coupled with education efforts, she said, it “will help protect the health of those most vulnerable. Ultimately, we want these infections to be prevented.”
Mitzi Baum, the chief executive officer of Stop Foodborne Illness, said the decision “will have meaningful impact on infant mortality,” according to the Post.
Cronobacter infections are believed to be rare and the Post says that most of the children who are exposed to it don’t get sick. The CDC documented fewer than 80 reports of cases over the last 20 years.
So far in 2023, only one cronobacter infection in a baby has been reported to the CDC, an agency spokesman said, according to the AP. Investigators reportedly found cronobacter in an open can of powdered baby formula at that baby’s house. The brand and location of the formula were not released.
