WHO delays release of foodborne disease estimates

The World Health Organization (WHO) has delayed the publication of new foodborne disease figures until 2026.

WHO said although the report was initially planned for 2025, it was “unfortunately not possible due to unforeseen changes.”

The current aim is to publish updated estimates during the first quarter of 2026.

“The official consultation with WHO member states, during which each country had the opportunity to review and comment on its national estimates, was completed this summer, and we are now including additional national input to refine the estimates further. So, the process to finalize the estimates is already well underway,” a WHO spokesperson told Food Safety News.

Progress so far
WHO representatives have previously said the agency is undergoing major restructuring, which includes significant budget cuts. Earlier this year, the United States and Argentina announced plans to withdraw from WHO. The U.S. contributed $1.284 billion to the agency from 2022 to 2023.

From June to July 2025, WHO conducted a formal country consultation, sharing confidential draft national estimates on incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) across 42 food hazards. Countries were invited to provide feedback and contribute additional data to refine the results.

WHO’s Foodborne Disease Burden Epidemiology Reference Group (FERG) will cover foodborne infection data from 2000 to 2021 at national, regional, and global level, using a time series analysis.

Figures published in 2015 revealed that 31 hazards caused 600 million illnesses and 420,000 deaths in 2010. New estimates will also provide data on Trypanosoma cruzi, aflatoxin M1, inorganic arsenic, cadmium, lead, methylmercury, cyclospora, rotavirus, and Enteroaggregative E. coli (EAEC).

FERG also advised WHO to look again at the economic impact of foodborne hazards. Figures released by the World Bank in 2019 said unsafe food costs low- and middle-income economies about $110 billion in lost productivity and medical expenses each year. The first global technical consultation was held in early 2025 and the figures are planned to be finalized beyond 2026.

Salmonella and Shigella in AMR report
In other news, WHO has published its global antibiotic resistance surveillance report which contains a section on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in gastrointestinal infections.

In 2023, more than 33,000 Salmonella infections were reported to the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) compared to 6,525 cases of Shigella.

According to the report, the emergence of fluoroquinolone-resistant non-typhoidal Salmonella is a growing concern. It is due largely to use of antibiotics in animal husbandry.

Third-generation cephalosporins remain largely effective against Salmonella, with a low level of resistance to ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, and ceftazidime. Resistance to fluoroquinolones was higher, with 16.3 percent of isolates resistant to ciprofloxacin.

Resistance to fluoroquinolones in Shigella was widespread globally, at 29.7 percent, reaching 75.5 percent in the South-East Asia region. The percentage resistance to azithromycin, a macrolide, was 25.6 percent.

For Salmonella, the level of AMR was highest in South-East Asia and lowest in the European and Western Pacific regions. Shigella had the highest level of resistance in the European and South-East Asia regions, while the lowest levels were in the African region and the Americas.

“The data on resistance for 2023 suggest that managing gastrointestinal infections is a growing challenge. In some regions, Shigella showed high resistance to key ‘Watch’ group antibiotics such as fluoroquinolones, azithromycin and third generation cephalosporins. While non-typhoidal Salmonella generally remain susceptible to most ‘Watch’ group antibiotics, rising levels of resistance to fluoroquinolones are a major global concern,” according to the report.

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Source: https://www.foodsafetynews.com/2025/10/who-delays-release-of-foodborne-disease-estimates/