What CDC and Other Agencies Did in Response to the Outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 Infections From Spinach
September 20, 2006
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How CDC & Other Agencies Responded to the 2006 Spinach Outbreak
- September 27 Update
- September 20 Update
- September 16 Update
NOTE: This document is provided for historical purposes. The content of this document has not been revised since its original release and therefore may no longer be up to date.
CDC has been working collaboratively with state health departments and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to rapidly detect infections, identify the source of the infections, and provide information on treatment of E. coli O157:H7 infections for the public and health care providers.
Below are some of the current CDC activities. To learn more about CDC’s activities from September 16 to the present, see the September 16 Update on What CDC and Other Agencies are Doing.
- An investigative and coordinating team led by the Division of Foodborne, Bacterial, and Mycotic Diseases (DFBMD) has expanded to include people at CDC across three National Centers from two Coordinating Centers and two Coordinating Offices in response to the outbreak of E. coli O157:H7.
- The outbreak response team is currently housed in the Director’s Emergency Operations Center to speed the response to the multi-state outbreak and coordinate efforts with the CDC, FDA, and CDC’s state and local partners.
- The PulseNet system, coordinated by CDC and supported by the Association of Public Health Laboratories, continues identifying new cases that may be possibly related to the outbreak. PulseNet allows for rapid comparison of “DNA fingerprints” or patterns. These comparison are used to determine whether the “DNA fingerprint” pattern of E. coli O157:H7 matches the “DNA fingerprint” taken from contaminated food. The timeline for reporting cases with E. coli O157:H7 can be found at the Timeline for Reporting of Cases, http://www.cdc.gov/foodborne/ecolispinach/reportingtimeline.htm
- The cases identified by PulseNet are being interviewed by the investigators of OutbreakNet, the network of public health epidemiologists who investigate foodborne disease outbreaks, in states and at CDC.
- A CDC hydrologist from the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) has been deployed to California to join the FDA in the investigation of possible environmental sources of the outbreak.
- Close coordination between CDC and FDA has continued, providing rapid and consistent health messaging to the medical, public health, and general population.
The outbreak is still going on, and there is still a great deal of epidemiological and laboratory work to be performed quickly to determine the source of the outbreak and to control it. To learn more about the E. coli O157:H7 and the response to the outbreak, see E. coli O157:H7 Outbreak from Fresh Spinach.
Page last modified September 21, 2006
Content source: National Center for Infectious Diseases