Foodborne and waterborne illness data

Surveillance summaries of foodborne and waterborne illnesses reported to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

What is foodborne and waterborne illness?

Most foodborne and waterborne illnesses are caused by enteric (intestinal) pathogens and result in gastrointestinal illness symptoms such as diarrhea, vomiting, and abdominal cramps. Food and water can be contaminated by a variety of different bacteria, viruses, parasites, and toxins. People can get sick after ingesting contaminated food or water and spread these illnesses to each other through their stool. Some enteric pathogens can also be spread through contact with animals and the areas where animals live. Legionnaires’ disease is acquired by inhaling small droplets of water contaminated with Legionella bacteria and is also a waterborne illness.

Foodborne and waterborne illness reported in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) conducts ongoing surveillance of several foodborne and waterborne illnesses.

The Foodborne and Waterborne Illness 10-Year Morbidity Report gives an overview of incidence of reported foodborne and waterborne illness in Massachusetts.

Foodborne and Waterborne Illness Reported in Massachusetts, 2015-2025¹

Disease	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025 YTD1
Amebiasis	43	50	31	31	46	22	20	22	44	53	41
Campylobacter	1458	1368	1408	1547	1726	1062	1440	1690	1662	1932	1885
Cryptosporidiosis	210	198	156	247	226	119	138	172	190	162	277
Cyclospora	21	23	25	33	211	24	37	38	97	84	74
Giardia	682	584	556	559	529	273	377	606	582	748	522
Legionella	164	141	203	389	256	180	290	214	258	208	209
Listeria	19	21	36	31	29	39	30	41	45	49	29
Norovirus	267	492	409	508	530	366	310	678	1254	2128	3101
Salmonella	1166	1198	1168	1244	1129	718	901	1106	1208	1245	1118
Shiga toxin-producing E. coli	89	140	159	182	179	127	177	199	227	347	435
Shigella	164	183	186	206	257	120	162	256	303	396	404
Vibrio	76	65	72	82	91	62	108	103	99	126	114
Yersiniosis	33	46	36	51	87	59	90	118	134	184	189

¹Data are current as of 01/05/2026 and include year-to-date (YTD) case counts through 12/31/2025. Data are preliminary and subject to change.

Confirmed and probable cases are included for Amebiasis, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, Giardia, Legionella, Listeria, Norovirus, Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia.  Shiga toxin-producing E. coli includes confirmed, probable, and suspect cases.

Foodborne outbreaks investigated in Massachusetts

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) works with local boards of health to investigate foodborne illness outbreaks.

The Foodborne Illness Outbreak Report provides an overview of reportable foodborne diseases, whole genome sequencing clusters, and foodborne outbreaks investigated by year.

• Foodborne Illness Outbreak Report, Massachusetts, 2023