Integrating the Food and Drug Administration Office of the Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network’s foodborne illness outbreak surveillance and response activities with principles of the National Incident Management System
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.0567Keywords:
foodborne outbreak response, Incident Command System (ICS), foodborne illness outbreak coordinationAbstract
The Food Safety Modernization Act mandates building a national Integrated Food Safety System, which represents a seamless partnership among federal, state, local, territorial, and tribal agencies. During multistate foodborne illness outbreak investigations, local and state partners, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), or the United States Department of Agriculture Food Safety Inspection Service, depending on the regulated food product, become engaged and assist in coordinating the efforts between partners involved and determine the allocation of resources. The FDA Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) Office of the Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation (CORE) Network coordinates foodborne illness outbreak surveillance, response, and post-response activities related to incidents involving multiple illnesses linked to FDA-regulated human food, dietary supplements, and cosmetic products. FDA has implemented the National Incident Management System (NIMS) Incident Command System (ICS) principles across the agency to coordinate federal response efforts, and CORE has adapted NIMS ICS principles for the emergency management of multistate foodborne illness outbreaks. CORE’s implementation of ICS principles has provided several benefits to the operational cycle of foodborne illness outbreak investigations, including establishing a consistent, standardized, and transparent step-by-step approach to outbreak investigations. ICS principles have been instrumental in the development of a national platform for rapid and systematic laboratory, traceback, and epidemiologic information sharing, data analysis, and decision-making. This allows for partners across jurisdictions to reach a consensus regarding outbreak goals and objectives, deploy resources, and take regulatory and public health actions.
References
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: CDC annual summaries of foodborne outbreaks. 2018. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/fdoss/annual-reports/index.html. Accessed May 5, 2020.
Dewey-Mattia D, Manikonda K, Hall AJ, et al.: Surveillance for foodborne disease outbreaks—United States, 2009-2015. MMWR Surveill Summ. 2018; 67(10): 1-11.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Investigating outbreaks. 2016. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/outbreaks/investigating-outbreaks/index.html. Accessed May 5, 2020.
US Food and Drug Administration: About the CORE network. 2020. Available at https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborneillness/about-core-network. Accessed May 5, 2020.
US Food and Drug Administration: National Integrated Food Safety System (IFSS) programs and initiatives. 2019. Available at https://www.fda.gov/federal-state-local-tribal-and-territorialofficials/national-integrated-food-safety-system-ifss-programs-andinitiatives. Accessed May 5, 2020.
Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response: Guidelines for foodborne disease outbreak response. 2009. Available at https://cifor.us/downloads/clearinghouse/2nd%20edition%20CIFOR%20Guidelines%20Final.pdf. Accessed May 5, 2020.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: National outbreak reporting system guidance. 2017. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/nors/downloads/guidance.pdf. Accessed May 5, 2020.
Jennifer Pierquet MB, Badour J, Julian E, et al.: Creating the rapid response road map: Collaboration points the way forward. 2015. Available at https://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/magazinearchive1/augustseptember-2015/creating-the-rapid-response-roadmap-collaboration-points-the-way-forward/. Accessed June 1, 2020.
Jennifer Pierquet MB, Badour J, Julian E, et al.: Where the rubber meets the road: RRTs in action. 2015. Available at https://www.foodsafetymagazine.com/magazine-archive1/octobernovember-2015/where-the-rubber-meets-the-road-rrts-in-action/. Accessed June 1, 2020.
Adams EH, Scanlon E, Callahan JJ, 3rd, et al.: Utilization of an incident command system for a public health threat: West Nile virus in Nassau County, New York, 2008. J Public Health Manag Practice. 2010; 16(4): 309-315.
Cruz MA, Hawk NM, Poulet C, et al.: Public health incident management: Logistical and operational aspects of the 2009 initial outbreak of H1N1 influenza in Mexico. J Emerg Manag. 2015; 13(1): 71-77.
Cruz MA, Keim ME, Schier JG, et al.: Organizational and command aspects for coordinating the public health response to an outbreak of acute renal failure, Republic of Panama, 2006. Prehospital Disaster Med. 2011; 26(3): 217-223.
Iskander J, Rose DA, Ghiya ND: Science in emergency response at CDC: Structure and functions. Am J Public Health. 2017; 107(S2): S122-S125.
Olu OO, Lamunu M, Chimbaru A, et al.: Incident management systems are essential for effective coordination of large disease outbreaks: Perspectives from the coordination of the Ebola outbreak response in Sierra Leone. Front Public Health. 2016; 4: 254.
World Health Organization: Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) situation report-3. 2020. Available at https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200123-sitrep-3-2019-ncov.pdf?sfvrsn=d6d23643_8. Accessed May 5, 2020.
Williams J, Freeman CL, Goldstein S.: EMS Incident Command System. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island, FL: StatPearls Publishing. 2020. Available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441863/. Accessed January 28, 2021.
US Food and Drug Administration: National Incident Management System implementation. 2019. Available at https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/national-incident-management-system-implementation. Accessed May 5, 2020.
Viazis S, Beal JK, Monahan C, et al.: Laboratory, environmental, and epidemiologic investigation and regulatory enforcement actions in response to an outbreak of Salmonella bredeney infections linked to peanut butter. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2015; 2(3): ofv114.
US Federal Emergency Management Agency: National Incident Management System (NIMS). 2015. Available at https://training.fema.gov/nims/. Accessed May 5, 2020.
US Federal Emergency Management Agency: National Incident Management System. 2017. Available at https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1508151197225-ced8c60378c3936adb92c1a3ee6f6564/FINAL_NIMS_2017.pdf. Accessed May 5, 2020.
US Food and Drug Administration: FDA Incident Command System (ICS) forms. 2018. Available at https://www.fda.gov/emergency-preparedness-and-response/national-incident-managementsystem-implementation/fda-incident-command-system-ics-forms. Accessed May 5, 2020.
Stambler KS, Barbera JA: The evolution of shortcomings in Incident Command System: Revisions have allowed critical management functions to atrophy. J Emerg Manag. 2015; 13(6): 509-518.
Sisco S, Jones EMA, Giebelhaus EK, et al.: The role and function of the liaison officer: Lessons learned and applied after superstorm sandy. Health Secur. 2019; 17(2): 109-116.
US Food and Drug Administration: Pine nuts: FDA confirms Salmonella on sunrise commodities’ Turkish pine nuts. 2011. Available at http://wayback.archive-it.org/7993/20171114155041/https://www.fda.gov/Food/RecallsOutbreaksEmergencies/Outbreaks/ucm278441.htm. Accessed May 5, 2020.
McCollum JT, Cronquist AB, Silk BJ, et al.: Multistate outbreak of listeriosis associated with cantaloupe. N Engl J Med. 2013; 369(10): 944-953.
Laughlin M, Bottichio L, Weiss J, et al.: Multistate outbreak of Salmonella Poona infections associated with imported cucumbers, 2015-2016. Epidemiol Infect. 2019; 147: e270.
US Food and Drug Administration: FDA investigated multistate outbreak of Salmonella Poona linked to cucumbers. 2016. Available at https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/fda-investigated-multistate-outbreak-salmonella-poona-linkedcucumbers. Accessed May 5, 2020.
Crowe SJ, Bottichio L, Shade LN, et al.: Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections associated with flour. N Engl J Med. 2017; 377(21): 2036-2043.
US Food and Drug Administration: FDA investigated multistate outbreak of Shiga toxin-producing E. coli infections linked to flour. 2017. Available at https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborneillness/fda-investigated-multistate-outbreak-shiga-toxin-producing-ecoli-infections-linked-flour. Accessed May 5, 2020.
Briggs SM: Regional interoperability: Making systems connect in complex disasters. J Trauma. 2009; 67(2 Suppl): S88-S90.
US Food and Drug Administration: ORA overview. 2014. Available at https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/office-regulatory-affairs/ora-overview. Accessed May 27, 2020.
US Food and Drug Administration: What we do at CFSAN. 2019. Available at https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/center-food-safetyand-applied-nutrition-cfsan/what-we-do-cfsan. Accessed May 27, 2020.
US Food and Drug Administration: Office of the commissioner. 2020. Available at https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/fda-organization/office-commissioner. Accessed May 27, 2020.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Outbreak response and prevention branch. 2018. Available at https://www.cdc.gov/ncezid/dfwed/orpb/index.html. Accessed May 27, 2020.
US Food and Drug Administration: Rapid response teams. 2019. Available at https://www.fda.gov/federal-state-local-tribaland-territorial-officials/national-integrated-food-safety-system-ifssprograms-and-initiatives/rapid-response-teams-rrts. Accessed May 5, 2020.
US Food and Drug Administration: Formal agreement between USDA and FDA relative to cooperation and coordination. 2018. Available at https://www.fda.gov/food/domestic-interagency-agreements-food/formal-agreement-between-usda-and-fda-relative-cooperation-and-coordination. Accessed May 27, 2020.
US Food and Drug Administration: FDA’s CORE: A food safety network: 2011-2012. 2012. Available at https://www.fda.gov/media/85484/download. Accessed May 27, 2020.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright 2007-2023, Weston Medical Publishing, LLC and Journal of Emergency Management. All Rights Reserved
