An epidemiologist with the Columbia-Boone County Department of Public Health and Human Services in central Missouri has confirmed with Food Safety News that three cases of E. coli O157:H7 infection in Boone County share raw milk as a common potential source of contamination.
The three illnesses are part of a
Continue Reading Raw Milk Common Link in Missouri E. Coli Cases
Many of us have experienced the frustration of learning of a foodborne disease outbreak and wondering why didn’t we know about it sooner, why we don’t know all the details we wanted to know, why the investigation wasn’t successful or why we weren’t informed of the final details.
There are
Continue Reading No Quick Fixes for Outbreak Surveillance and Response
In the fall of 2006, health officials in Minnesota and Vermont reported multiple cases of Salmonella Typhimurium poisoning with matching genetic patterns. Working with federal officials, they began looking for a source.
A month later, their investigations had focused on fresh tomatoes, sliced and consumed in a variety of restaurants.
Continue Reading Tomatoes and Salmonella: An Ongoing Case Study
One of the most important protections we have against foodborne illness is our disease-surveillance systems. These systems field reports from widespread sources and may include disease-reporting registries, local and state health departments, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and utilize active outreach to clinicians and hospitals.
The data
Continue Reading Is Honesty the Best Policy in Foodborne Illness Investigations?
In 1854, as a cholera epidemic killed hundreds in London, an English physician named John Snow was determined to find out how the disease was transmitted.
Snow doubted the prevailing belief that disease was spread by breathing “bad air.” He noted that the disease was centered near a public water
From the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR): Food Safety Epidemiology Capacity in State Health Departments — United States, 2010
December 23, 2011 / 60(50);1701-1704:
…In 2010, a total of 787 FTEs were working as foodborne disease epidemiologists in state, regional, and local health departments in the
Continue Reading CDC: Whether Your Food-Related Illness Gets Investigated Depends on Where You Live
Many a drive-by shooting is successful without anyone getting hit, so Del Monte Fresh Produce got to do a victory dance last week after FDA re-opened the U.S. border to cantaloupes from Asuncion Mita, Guatemala.
In exchange, Del Monte Fresh Produce dropped its lawsuit against FDA in federal court. FDA
Continue Reading Letter from the Editor: Epidemiology Still Rules
A complaint lodged by Del Monte Fresh Produce against an Oregon Public Health epidemiologist has been dismissed by the state’s Government Ethics Commission.
The Oregonian’s Lynne Terry reported Monday that the commission considers allegations of misuse of public office for personal gain, so the produce company’s criticism of senior epidemiologist
Continue Reading Oregon Dismisses Complaint Against Epidemiologist
Attorneys and judges who make our criminal system work have been talking for some time about “CSI Syndrome.”
That is the level of expectation for evidence that has developed in the U.S. since the year 2000 when Crime Scene Investigators, or CSI Las Vegas, joined the CBS lineup.
It
The chances of detecting and stopping major outbreak of foodborne illness in middle America declined Friday due to Minnesota’s political shutdown of most state services — including Team Diarrhea and its celebrated team of epidemiologists.
Saddled with a $5 billion budget deficit and a legislative stalemate, the state temporarily laid
