Category: response
Sweet Relief: Public Health Efforts in Haiti
When I started working at CDC as a laboratory research scientist, one of the things that interested my supervisor was my ability to speak French, a skill I learned during a postdoctoral research position in Montpellier, France. This was because we had various projects in French-speaking countries. For me, having the opportunity to use my Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsLinking Raw Cookie Dough to an E. coli Outbreak
Contaminated raw cookie dough wasn’t on anyone’s mind as my public health colleagues and I were searching for the cause of a multistate outbreak of E. coli infections. I’m one of the Epidemic Intelligence Service officers in CDC’s Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch, which monitors and investigates foodborne diseases together with CDC’s Enteric Disease Laboratory Branch Read More >
Posted on by 9 CommentsIngredient Driven Outbreaks: The Inside is Bigger than the Outside
The current Salmonella Typhimurium outbreak associated with a peanut processing plant in Blakely, Georgia, appears to have begun in September 2008, and was first detected in mid-November 2008 by DNA fingerprinting of Salmonella in public health labs across the country [last blog link]. The broad distribution of peanut butter and peanut paste shipped to food Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentSalmonella Typhimurium Outbreak Investigation: Do Not Try This at Home
The Enteric Diseases programs at CDC have been collaborating with state public health officials, the USDA-Food Safety and Inspection Service, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate a multi-state outbreak of human infections due to Salmonella serotype Typhimurium affecting almost 400 persons. There are numerous interesting features of this outbreak that Read More >
Posted on by 3 CommentsCSI Atlanta: Foodborne Outbreak
During the recent investigation of the outbreak of Salmonella Saintpaul, CDC often mentioned that the overall “outbreak investigation is complex and difficult.” This complexity and difficulty extends to the hundreds of outbreaks that never make national headlines as local public health officials trace outbreaks to specific venues and food items. CDC assists local public health Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentSalmonella Saintpaul Outbreak: Epilogue
I’ve spent many years roaming this planet and, without doubt, we have amongst the safest food in the world. However, the largest foodborne outbreak in the last 10 years with an estimated 15, 000 cases is a vivid reminder that a number of factors will continue to drive outbreaks even here in the US. A Read More >
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