Foodborne Illness Cost Calculator

This interactive USDA ERS web-based tool allows users to estimate the cost of illness due to specific foodborne pathogens. The updated ERS cost estimate for Shiga-toxin producing E. coli O157 (STEC O157) was added to the Calculator in 2008. Calculator users can now review and change the assumptions behind the ERS cost estimates for either STEC O157 or Salmonella. The assumptions that can be modified include the annual number of cases, the distribution of cases by severity, the use or costs of medical care, the amount or value of time lost from work, the costs of premature death, and the disutility costs for nonfatal cases. Users can also update the cost estimate for inflation for any year from 1997 to 2010.