World prone to food-borne disease outbreaks: WHO

The world has become extra vulnerable to outbreaks of disease caused by contaminated food because of growing global trade, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday investigating these outbreaks has also become additional difficult because food can contain ingredients from around the world and is transported through a multifaceted global supply chain, top WHO officials said.

"Outbreaks of food-borne disease have become an especially big menace in a world bound together by huge volumes of international trade and travel," said WHO director-general Margaret Chan at a conference in Singapore on civilizing preparedness against global health threats,"They are large in their potential in terms of geographical spread often connecting multiple countries."

One challenge faced by governments worldwide is how to "reduce the health and economic consequences of food-borne diseases", Chan said.She cited an eruption this year of a new killer E.coli strain, which impure almost 4,000 people and left 51 dead across Europe and cause massive losses to vegetable farmers.