This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
CDC redesigns online tool for foodborne outbreaks
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
The CDC has redesigned its Foodborne Outbreak Online Database tool to make it easier to search for foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States from 1998 to 2014, according to a media advisory.
“The [FOOD tool] will make it easier to search data on foodborne disease outbreaks,” Antonio Vieira, DVM, MPH, PhD, doctoral epidemiologist at the CDC, told Infectious Disease News. “During an outbreak, public health investigators can use the database to help point them toward possible contaminated food sources by searching foods, and the germs, implicated in past outbreaks.”
By utilizing the Foodborne Outbreak Online Database, or FOOD, tool, users can search by year, state, food, ingredient, etiology and location of preparation to find the number of deaths, outbreaks, illnesses, and hospitalizations, according to the advisory. The CDC created the tool using its Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System, which collects information on foodborne outbreaks caused by bacterial, viral, parasitic and chemical agents reported by state, local and territorial public health departments.
“Tracking and reporting outbreak information is critical to understanding how foodborne illness affects America’s health,” Vieira said.
To use the tool, visit http://wwwn.cdc.gov/foodborneoutbreaks/Default.aspx.
Disclosure: Vieira reports no relevant financial disclosures.