CDC cuts mean Colorado is going ‘back to basics’ in tracking foodborne illnesses

Colorado greater part likely will have to cut back its in-depth surveillance for foodborne illnesses after the Centers for Malady Control and Prevention decided to use the plan to look for only two types of bacteria FoodNet previously tracked cases and conducted research about eight types of bacteria and parasites commonly unveiled in contaminated food salmonella E coli campylobacter listeria cyclospora shigella vibrio and yersinia They typically cause short-term gastrointestinal distress in healthy people but are more dangerous to young children older adults pregnant women and people with compromised immune systems Now FoodNet will only put materials toward salmonella and E coli The CDC didn t respond to questions by deadline but communicated other media outlets that FoodNet is duplicative because other systems exist to track foodborne illnesses Colorado is one of states participating in FoodNet with scientists at the state physical condition department and the Colorado School of Residents Wellness contributing The others are California Connecticut Georgia Maryland Minnesota New Mexico New York Oregon and Tennessee The CDC s cutback doesn t forbid Colorado from tracking the other six illnesses but the Colorado Department of General Fitness and Atmosphere has revealed budget constraints would likely make that unfeasible All changes will be made in collaboration with CDC and the nine other FoodNet sites While it is critical for Colorado FoodNet to scale our programs in proportion to funding we continue to prioritize pursuits that are essential to outbreak detection and response in order to protect the physical condition of all Coloradans spokeswoman Kristin Richmann declared in an email States conduct passive surveillance by requiring labs to assessment certain illnesses including the eight on the list noted Elaine Scallan Walter a professor at the School of Community Vitality and co-principal investigator for FoodNet in the state FoodNet takes a more proceeding role reaching out to labs and auditing their reporting compliance so foodborne illnesses don t slip through the cracks she mentioned We re going back to basics for surveillance of certain of the pathogens she stated Related Articles Coloradans can get updated COVID vaccines but insurance might not cover the shots WATCH Sen Michael Bennet RFK Jr get in screaming match over vaccine panel appointments Colorado issues order allowing pharmacies to provide COVID vaccines without prescription CVS Walgreens now require prescriptions for COVID vaccines in Colorado Colorado man settles lawsuit against McDonald s over E coli outbreak FoodNet also has guidance to survey doctors on how they treat patients who present with diarrhea and the general constituents about when they seek care which allows it to extrapolate how various foodborne illnesses likely go undetected for every known incident Scallan Walter disclosed They also survey people who got sick and a control group who didn t about the foods they ate in the last days If of people who developed a certain illness ate peanut butter for example knowing how multiple in the control group also ate peanut butter allows FoodNet to determine whether that signals a challenge with one particular food Scallan Walter reported That kind of research identified melons as a prospective source of listeria allowing the CDC to trace a listeria outbreak to cantaloupe faster than it otherwise would have she explained It gives us much more solid footing when we re looking at trends she stated Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get healthcare news sent straight to your inbox