Epi/Lab Integrated Reporting
On behalf of the Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR), and in collaboration with the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), APHL is leading a study that will identify one model site and three pilot sites to develop a system for developing regular combined epidemiology/laboratory reports, using a standard format which will also allow future development of a system of communication and sharing of reports between jurisdictions. It is expected that laboratories with this capacity will be able to identify and successfully investigate more foodborne disease outbreaks.
PulseNet Cost Benefit Analysis
Despite PulseNet’s achievements in identifying and tracking outbreaks of foodborne illness, funding for the network continues to decline.
In response, APHL has commissioned a study to determine the economic value of the system. The research is based upon an earlier study that found that a subtype-specific surveillance system in one state would recover all of its costs if it averted only five cases of E. coli O157:H7 each year.