An Integrated System for Enteric Disease Surveillance and Outbreak Detection

Introduction The Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH), in collaboration with Yale Emerging Infections Program (EIP), receives funding to particpate in the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) and Foodborne Disease Centers for Outbreak Response Enhancement (FoodCORE). FoodNet is an active population-based surveillance network that monitors trends for ten enteric diseases and conducts special studies to better understand the causes of foodborne illness.1 FoodCORE develops best practices related to the detection, investigation, and control or disease outbreaks, particularly those due to to Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, and Listeria (SSL).2 Foodborne disease surveillance and response is a collaborative effort requiring real-time data sharing between key stakeholders including: DPH Epidemiology, DPH Laboratory, DPH Food Protection Program, Yale EIP, and local health department (LHD) staff.