The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) today released a redesigned online tool making it easier to search data on foodborne disease outbreaks.
The updated Foodborne Outbreak Online Database Tool (FOOD Tool) lets users search nearly 20 years of outbreak data by state, food, or germ.
Originally developed in 2009, the FOOD Tool includes national foodborne outbreak data reported to CDC from 1998 to 2014. New interactive features such as maps, graphs, and tables now allow users to search by specific foods and ingredients, view a “quick stats” display, and get case counts for multistate outbreaks.
FOOD Tool’s data come from CDC’s Foodborne Disease Outbreak Surveillance System (FDOSS), which captures information on foodborne outbreaks caused by enteric (intestinal) bacterial, viral, parasitic, and chemical agents reported by state, local, and territorial public health agencies.
CDC analyzes these data to understand the impact of foodborne outbreaks and the causes, foods, settings, and contributing factors (for example, food kept at room temperature for too long) involved in outbreaks.
