FoodNet, established in 1995, is a collaborative project among CDC, 10 Emerging Infections Program (EIP) sites, including Oregon, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Objectives
- Determine the burden of foodborne illness;
- Monitor trends in the burden of specific foodborne illnesses over time;
- Attribute the burden of foodborne illness to specific foods and settings; and,
- Develop and assess interventions to reduce the burden of foodborne illness.
Pathogens
The FoodNet program tracks foodborne illness using surveys of physicians and laboratories, case-control studies, and active case finding of the following pathogens:
Ongoing Activities
Active laboratory-based surveillance for foodborne pathogens
The core of FoodNet is population-based active surveillance of clinical laboratories in the participating sites. Clinical laboratories that test stool samples are contacted regularly to collect information on all of laboratory-confirmed cases of foodborne illness.
- Survey of the population
Population servey is conducted to precisely estimate the burden of acute diarrheal illness and to descrbe the frequency of important exposures
- Survey of clinical laboratory practices
Periodic laboratory survey is conducted to determine which pathogens are included in routine bacterial stool cultures, which tests must be specifically requested by the physician, and what specific techniques are used to isolate the pathogens.