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The Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch focuses on the
control and prevention of bacterial foodborne and diarrheal diseases,
to prevent illness, disability and death. The Branch does this by conducting
surveillance, by investigating outbreaks, through applied research, and
by consulting with state health departments, food safety regulatory agencies,
and health authorities around the world. The Branch identifies causes
and sources of bacterial foodborne and diarrheal illness in order to develop
new prevention and control methods in collaborations with other public
health agencies. Investigations have identified major new foodborne pathogens,
(e.g. Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella Enteritidis in
eggs) and have been critical to meeting he challenge of the recent Latin
American cholera epidemic. As a result of these investigations, new prevention
efforts are being implemented to improve the safety of food and water
both in the United States and overseas.
Many Branch activities depend on close collaboration between epidemiologists
and the microbiologists. Branch epidemiologists maintain surveillance
activities, and conduct outbreak investigations and other special studies.
They frequently consult with State and local health department officials
concerning possible outbreaks or other public health issues. Branch microbiologists
maintain expertise in a variety of bacterial pathogens, developing new
methods to identify and characterize them. Branch microbiologists advise
and support public health laboratories in each State, and are involved
in many outbreak investigations. The branch is the national reference
laboratory for botulism, campylobacteriosis, cholera, intestinal E.
coli infections, listeriosis, salmonellosis, shigellosis, and other
similar infections. With this expertise and the ongoing applied research,
new pathogens are discovered, and new methods make our public health system
better.
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