An outbreak of a foodborne illness can be scary because often when the outbreak comes to the public’s attention, there have already been many cases reported of people getting sick or deaths associated with the disease. This was the case recently with a listeria outbreak connected to certain kinds of deli meat.
By the time the public hears about such an outbreak, though, it might be consoling to know that investigations are well underway to track down the cause and make sure safety measures are put in place. In order to take those steps, investigators rely heavily on data.
Listeria outbreak
In July, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported a listeria outbreak. Two people died and more than 30 others were sickened from listeria poisoning between late May and mid-July across 13 states. Symptoms can appear immediately or up to ten weeks after someone eats contaminated food.
Most of the people who got sick were hospitalized. Symptoms from listeria infections can include fever, muscle aches, confusion, and loss of balance. The infections are especially dangerous for people above the age of 65, people with weakened immune systems, and those who are pregnant.
The investigation
Investigators were able to trace the outbreak to deli meats produced at a plant in Virginia, resulting in Boar’s Head recalling more than 7 million pounds of ready-to-eat products. A liverwurst sample collected by health officials in Maryland tested positive for listeria, and further testing linked the bacteria to the kind that was making people sick.
They were able to zero in on the liverwurst because state and local health officials interviewed people about the foods they ate in the month before they got sick. Twenty-three of the 24 people able to be interviewed reported eating a variety of meats sliced at deli counters, with more than half of them having had liverwurst.
The role of data in the investigative process
The CDC collects three types of data to link illnesses to contaminated foods: Epidemiologic, traceback, and food and environmental testing.
- Epidemiologic data looks for patterns such as when and where people got sick, and includes interviews with people about what they ate.
- Traceback data examines the distribution chain for possible contamination, and includes inspections looking for food safety risks.
- Food and environmental testing involves looking for specific germs that can cause the illness. In this case, it was the Boar’s Head liverwurst from a retail store in Maryland that helped provide the answers in this step.
Consistent data is key. The CDC uses a national laboratory network consisting of 83 public health and food regulatory laboratories, with at least one lab in every state. This is where investigators can identify the bacteria that is making people sick.
According to the CDC, about 1,600 people get listeria food poisoning each year, and about 260 people die from it. In 1993, an E. coli outbreak resulted in four people dying and more than 700 other people becoming sick. It was after that outbreak when the CDC determined that outbreaks could be identified sooner if all public health laboratories could perform the same investigations on bacteria from patients.
That’s the kind of impact data can have, if it is governed correctly. It is also important to have the right analytics solution to make sense of the data. Whether it is in healthcare or any other industry, the data can only make a difference if there is a plan for how it should be used. By thinking about the end goal, like the CDC did when it aimed to work more quickly to identify threats and save lives, data can be used to improve processes for any organization.
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