South Dakota has the highest rate of foodborne illnesses in the nation, according to a new study.
While the state’s number one industry is good for dollars, it’s also a large driver behind the high illness rate.
While many states in the Northern Plains and Upper Midwest regions are seeing higher rates of reporting, South Dakota’s 92.2 cases of foodborne illness per 100,000 people lead the nation. The next highest is Nebraska at 74.4.
Nathan Willen is a zoonotic disease epidemiologist for the Department of Health. He said the agriculture-heavy environment is a large driver behind the numbers.
“We expect the reason our burden is so high, you know there’s likely more than one answer, but we do see a lot of people reporting exposure to livestock and farm animals, and in particularly cattle,” Willen said.
Foodborne illnesses are typically spread when fecal matter contaminates water and food sources.
Although the numbers aren’t great, Willen said higher numbers are to be expected when you have four times as many cattle as you do people in South Dakota.
“And so alongside that, we expect many of our residents are likely having a greater occupational exposure to a number of these pathogens, compared to residents of other states," Willen said.
Willen said a lot of foodborne illnesses that show up, like campylobacter, are found in cattle that won’t show symptoms. When humans come into contact with the illness, they do. He emphasized that hygiene around livestock is vital to stay healthy.
“For our data from 2013-2023, it was around 43% of our reported campylobacter cases reported contact with cattle," Willen said.
He said public health specialists are trying to relay this data and get the word out to the public about risks. Willen said the DOH worked with the Animal Industry Board to spread awareness of risks in the poultry industry.
“And we developed salmonella prevention flyers focused on backyard poultry because that’s, backyard poultry, are one area we see salmonellosis in humans," Willen said. "And so, we developed flyers focused on preventing that and distributed those to feed and ag supply stores selling baby chicks and ducks.”
He said when outbreaks occur, more immediate attention is taken. Otherwise, the DOH focuses its efforts on educating the public and producers about risk factors.
