Welcome

The Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR) is a multidisciplinary working group convened to increase collaboration across the country and across relevant areas of expertise in order to reduce the burden of foodborne illness in the United States. The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) are co-chairing CIFOR with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Foodborne and other enteric diseases affect millions of Americans each year. Many organizations are involved in efforts to mitigate the effects of these illnesses on public health. Outbreak identification and investigation is one of the key areas where multidisciplinary public health professionals must collaborate. The epidemiology of foodborne diseases is always changing because the diagnostic and subtyping capabilities in laboratories is changing, there are newly recognized and emerging pathogens, changes in food production, distribution, processing, and consumption patterns, demographic shifts, and many other factors. To successfully manage foodborne outbreak challenges, public health agencies must constantly adapt.

CIFOR was created to develop and share guidelines, processes, and products that will facilitate good foodborne outbreak response.

You Need to Know:

• The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other CIFOR members have provided a mechanism for food safety leaders to comment on the implementation of the Guidelines. Click Here to provide your feedback on the implementation of the Guidelines.

• CIFOR's Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Outbreak Response are out now. CIFOR would like to share any opportunity to receive up to two (2) free copies of the Guidelines book. FDA is offering up to 2 copies of the Guidelines, to get your free copy, please email Shirley Turpin and don't forget to include your mailing address and telephone number.

• On September 22, 2009, Michael Taylor, Senior Advisor to the FDA Commissioner, addressed the audience at this year’s PulseNet and OutbreakNet Meeting in Snowbird, Utah. His remarks FDA's Food Safety Vision: Public Health Partnerships to Prevent Foodborne Illness, outline how the strong partnership between the FDA, CDC, and with state-level counterparts needs to rise to a new level and what specific things we should be working on in order to get there.

Upcoming Events

Listen to Back to the Webinar: Implementing the CIFOR Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Outbreak Response

Public health and environmental health leaders joined foodborne disease experts to learn more about the 2009 CIFOR Guidelines and steps they can take to improve foodborne disease surveillance, investigation, and control in their agencies. Click here to learn more about this webinar.