Abstract：Objective To understand the epidemiological features and trends of foodborne disease outbreaks in schools in Yunnan Province. Methods We collected the data regarding reported foodborne disease outbreaks in schools in YunnanProvince between 2010 and 2020, and performed descriptive epidemiological analysis. Results A total of 260 foodborne disease outbreaks occurred in schools from 2010 to 2020, involving 6,600 cases and 2 deaths. The overall trend was downward. The foodborne disease outbreaks in schools peaked in the second and fourth quarters, accounting for 66.54% (173/260) of the total number of outbreaks. Most of the outbreaks occurred in primary schools, accounting for 58.08% (151/260). Of the 185 incidents with definite or suspected pathogenic factors, 40.00% (74/185) were caused by microorganisms or suspected microorganisms, while 46.49% (86/185) were induced by toxins. Among 118 outbreaks with definite pathogenic factors, 60.17% (71/118) were caused by four pathogenic factors, of which ricin was the most common, involving 22 (18.64%) outbreaks and 428 cases, followed by 20 (16.95%) cases resulted from Bacillus cerus. Food leading to the outbreaks was classified as a kind of food plant, mainly including rice, sandwich and bread. The most polluted links leading to the outbreaks were production and processing links (50.77%, 132/260). Conclusion We should pay attention to the epidemic characteristics of foodborne disease outbreaks in schools, and enhance the management and supervision of production and processing of plant food in primary school canteens during the school enrollment season. Infection of microorganisms and toxins is the main pathogenic factor of foodborne diseases in schools, and the cause detection rate is low. It is necessary to further strengthen the detection ability of microorganisms and toxins offoodborne diseases in medical institutions, improve the cause detection rate, and minimize the incidence rate of foodborne diseases in schools.
2022, Vol. 29 
