Traits of Successful Investigations

At a glance

Foodborne outbreak investigations are more often successful when they include data collected through epidemiologic investigation, laboratory testing, and environmental health assessment.

graphic of epidemiologists, a laboratorian, and a public health investigator.

Key takeaways

Successful outbreak investigations identify the food item(s), germ(s), and contributing factors of the outbreak. Identifying these data points can help stop the current outbreak and prevent more in the future.

Why this is important

This study adds to evidence showing the importance of a unified public health response during a foodborne outbreak investigation that includes epidemiologists, laboratorians, and environmental health professionals. The results of this study can help guide state and local health departments when investigating a foodborne illness outbreak.

What we learned

Successful investigations more often occur when investigators do these activities:

  • Use robust epidemiology investigation techniques, such as a cohort study, to identify the food associated with the outbreak and people who got sick
  • Collect and test clinical samples from people who got sick to identify what made people sick
  • Conduct a thorough environmental assessment of the outbreak environment
Epidemiology
  • Epidemiologists conduct activities such as interviewing the people who got sick (hosts) to determine their symptoms and what foods they recently ate.
  • Answers the questions: Who got sick and where? What foods did they eat?
Laboratory
  • Laboratorians test clinical samples, or stool samples, from hosts to determine what is making people sick (agent).
  • Answers the question: What is making people sick?
Environmental health
  • Environmental health specialists conduct environmental assessments of the outbreak establishment’s kitchen (environment) and other activities to understand factors that contributed to the outbreak.
  • Answers the question: How and why are people getting sick?

More information

Journal article this plain language summary is based on

Study data

Contributing factors and environmental assessments

CDC's Environmental Assessment Training Series

Other information on factors that contribute to outbreaks and why investigators did or did not do environmental assessments

About this study‎

This study assessed outbreak data reported to the National Environmental Assessment Reporting System (NEARS). Local, state, tribal, and territorial programs use NEARS to report environmental assessment data. These data come from foodborne illness outbreak investigations in restaurants, banquet facilities, schools, and other institutions.
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Content Source:
National Center for Environmental Health