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

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5055/jem.0567

Keywords:

foodborne outbreak response, Incident Command System (ICS), foodborne illness outbreak coordination

Abstract

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.

Author Biographies

Sharon Seelman, MS, MBA

Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Office of the Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network, College Park, Maryland

Stelios Viazis, PhD

Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Office of the Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network, Portland, Oregon

Sheila Pack Merriweather, MPH

Food and Drug Administration, Office of Emergency Management, Emergency Planning, Exercises, and Evaluation, Silver Spring, Maryland

Tami Craig Cloyd, DVM

Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Office of the Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network, College Park, Maryland

Megan Aldridge, MPH

Food and Drug Administration, Office of Emergency Management, Silver Spring, Maryland

Kari Irvin, MS

Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Office of the Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation Network, College Park, Maryland

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Published

03/01/2021

How to Cite

Seelman, MS, MBA, S., S. Viazis, PhD, S. P. Merriweather, MPH, T. C. Cloyd, DVM, M. Aldridge, MPH, and K. Irvin, MS. “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”. Journal of Emergency Management, vol. 19, no. 2, Mar. 2021, pp. 131-4, doi:10.5055/jem.0567.