Foodborne Illness Active Disease Surveillance

On this page:
Illness Reported to MDH
Interviews and Analysis
National Surveillance

Illness Reported to the Minnesota Department of Health

• Reporting an Infectious Disease
  Healthcare providers are required to report to the Minnesota Department of Health all confirmed or suspected cases of foodborne disease, including:
• Campylobacteriosis (Campylobacter)
• Cryptosporidiosis (Cryptosporidium)
• Enteric Escherichia coli infection
  (E. coli O157:H7, other enterohemorrhagic E. coli, enteropathogenic E. coli,
  enteroinvasive E. coli)
• Giardiasis (Giardia)
• Listeriosis (Listeria)
• Salmonellosis (Salmonella)
• Shigellosis (Shigella)
• Cholera (Vibrio cholerae)
• Yersiniosis (Yersinia)
  
  
• Reporting Suspected Foodborne and Waterborne Illness
  Please contact the Minnesota Department of Health if you suspect you have a foodborne or waterborne illness. MDH will relay the necessary information to the appropriate local health authorities.
  

Interviews and Analysis

Epidemiologists conduct telephone interviews with all persons who have been diagnosed with one of the reportable foodborne diseases. These interviews include questions about symptoms, food consumption, and contact with water, animals, and children. The information from these reports and interviews enables epidemiologists to:

• Describe the epidemiology of new and emerging bacterial, parasitic, and viral foodborne pathogens.
• Estimate the frequency and severity of foodborne diseases that occur in Minnesota each year.
• Determine how much foodborne illness results from eating specific foods, such as meat, poultry, and eggs.
• Detect, control, and prevent foodborne disease outbreaks in Minnesota.

FoodNet National Surveillance

The Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) is the principal foodborne disease component of CDC's Emerging Infections Program (EIP).

• FoodNet is a collaborative project of the CDC, 10 EIP sites, including Minnesota, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
• The project consists of active surveillance for foodborne diseases and related epidemiologic studies designed to help public health officials better understand the epidemiology of foodborne diseases in the United States.