FoodCORE Center Characteristics Summary

FoodCORE Center Organizational Structure, Disease Burden, and Center-Specific Work Plan Details.

FoodCORE Center Organizational Structure, Disease Burden, and Center-Specific Work Plan Details.
Center	Structure	2014 Reported SSL¹ cases²	Year joined FoodCORE	Lab Capacity		Epidemiology Capacity		Environmental Health (EH) Capacity
Center	Structure	2014 Reported SSL¹ cases²	Year joined FoodCORE	Molecular Testing Capabilities³	Courier Service	Initial Interview Responsibility	Centralized Interviewing Capacity for SSL cases	Environmental Health (EH) Capacity
Colorado	Decentralized	616 Salmonella 168 STEC 15 Listeria	2014	Luminex GI Panel WGS⁴ Certified	Yes	Listeria interviews are conducted by state health department staff or student team members; STEC and Salmonella interviews are interviewed by regional staff or LHD⁵s	Regional Staff	Collaborations with the Division of Environmental Health and Sustainability and local environmental health agencies
Connecticut	Decentralized	457 Salmonella 60 STEC 37 Listeria	2012	Validating BioFire GI panel WGS Certified	Yes	Centralized interviews for STEC and Listeria; 66 (90%) of 73 LHD³s participate in routine centralized interviewing for Salmonella	Student Team	Collaborations with state Food Protection Program and LHD sanitarians; participates in NEARS⁶
Minnesota	Centralized	727 Salmonella 332 STEC 30 Listeria	2014	BioFire GI Panel WGS Certified	Yes	Centralized interviewing at state health department	Student Team	Collaborations with state and local environmental health sanitarians and the MN Department of Agriculture Rapid Response Team (RRT); EHS-Net⁷ and NEARS participant
New York City	Centralized	1008 Salmonella 70 STEC 12 Listeria	2009	BioFire GI Panel WGS Certified	Yes	Centralized interviewing for SSL	Student Team	Collaborations with EHS-Net and NYC Office of Environmental Investigations; participates in NEARS
Ohio	Decentralized	1199 Salmonella 204 STEC 17 Listeria	2010	BioFire GI Panel WGS Certified	Yes	LHDs interview for SSL; 76 of 118 LHDs participate in routine centralized interviewing for their SSL cases, covering nearly 70% of Ohio’s population	Student Team	Collaborations with Department of Agriculture and LHD Sanitarians and EH Specialists
Oregon	Decentralized	401 Salmonella 185 STEC 10 Listeria	2014	Validating BioFire GI panel WGS Certified	Yes	Centralized interviews for SSL with the exception of two counties (who conduct HG interviews along with initial disease investigation); Listeria interviews are done by LHD staff	State Staff & Student Team	Collaborations with county environmental health specialists
South Carolina	Centralized	1399 Salmonella 15 STEC 16 Listeria	2010	BioFire GI Panel Acquiring WGS Equipment	Yes	Regional interviewers (state staff) interview all SSL cases	Regional Staff	Foodborne epidemiologists in Division of Acute Disease Epi and EH work closely together; Food complaint staff directly supported; participates in NEARS
Tennessee	Decentralized	998 Salmonella 154 STEC 10 Listeria	2010	BioFire GI Panel WGS Certified	Yes	92 out of 95 county LHDs participate in routine centralized interviewing for their SSL cases	Student Team	Collaborations with EHS-NET, Environmental Epi and Environmental Health Sections; participates in NEARS
Utah	Decentralized	370 Salmonella 91 STEC 9 Listeria	2009	BioFire GI Panel WGS Certified	Yes	LHDs interview SSL cases with centralized assistance	Student Team	Collaborations with Department of Agriculture and Food, Environmental Epidemiology, and LHD Sanitarians
Wisconsin	Decentralized	917 Salmonella 222 STEC 16 Listeria	2009	BioFire GI Panel WGS Certified	Yes	LHDs interview SSL cases with assistance from the centralized student team	Student Team	Collaborates with EHS-Net and LHDs; participates in NEARS

¹SSL = Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC), and Listeria.

²Data from Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, Summary of Notifiable Diseases – 2014.

³FoodCORE sites have testing capabilities beyond what is listed in this table including Pulsed-Field Gel Electrophoresis (PFGE). The GI panels listed are not used for routine specimen testing in FoodCORE sites, but are used in suspected outbreaks.

⁴WGS = Whole Genome Sequencing

PulseNet whole genome sequencing (WGS) certification is required for all laboratorians generating WGS data. The certification assures that the data generated are comparable between all PulseNet labs and meets a high standard of quality. Once certified, the laboratorian can directly submit WGS data to PulseNet Central, CDC, for further analysis that will help detect outbreaks.

⁵LHD = Local health department.

⁶ NEARS = National Environmental Assessment Reporting System.

⁷ EHS-Net = Environmental Health Specialists Network.

Page last reviewed: April 12, 2019

Content source: National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases (DFWED)