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Procedures to Investigate Foodborne Illness is designed to guide public health personnel or teams in any country that investigates reports of alleged foodborne illnesses. The manual is based on epidemiologic principles and investigative techniques that have been found effective in determining causal factors of disease incidence. The guidelines are presented in the sequence usually followed during investigations and are organized so that an investigator can easily find the information needed in any phase of an investigation. Included are descriptions of the following procedures:
- Plan, prepare, investigate and respond to intentional contamination of food
- Handle illness alerts and food-related complaints that may be related to illness
- Interview ill persons, those at risk, and controls
- Develop a case definition
- Collect and ship specimens and food samples
- Conduct hazard analysis (environmental assessments) at sites where foods responsible for outbreaks were produced, processed, or prepared
- Trace sources of contamination
- Identify factors responsible for contamination, survival of pathogenic microorganisms or toxic substances, and/or propagation of pathogens
- Collate and interpret collected data
- Report information about the outbreak
This edition also contains extensively updated and more user-friendly keys to assist investigators in identifying the contributing factors that may lead to the contamination, proliferation or survival of agents of foodborne disease.
List of contents
Foreword.- Introduction.- Develop a Foodborne Disease Surveillance System.- Investigate Outbreaks.- Seek Sources and Modes of Contamination and Ways By Which the Contaminants Survived and/or Proliferated.- Analyze Data.- Make Recommendations for Control.- Inform the Public.- Calculate Economic Impact of Disease Outbreaks.- Submit Report.- Use Outbreak Data for Prevention.- Addendum: Investigation of Intentional Contamination.- Further Reading.- Appendices
About the author
The International Association for Food Protection is a non-profit association of food safety professionals. Dedicated to the life-long educational needs of its Members, IAFP provides Members with an information network through its two scientific journals (Food Protection Trends and Journal of Food Protection), its educational Annual Meeting, international meetings and symposia along with international interaction between food safety professionals.
Summary
This revised sixth edition of the procedural guide provides public health professionals with a clear set of principles for investigating alleged foodborne illnesses. It covers everything from sample collection to interviewing victims and those at risk.
