Foodborne Disease Surveillance Systems: Early Warning Alert and Response Methods for Developing Countries

2016 ◽  
pp. 7-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Soon ◽  
Louise Manning ◽  
Carol Wallace
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Foodborne Disease

scholarly journals SARS-CoV-2: fate in water environments and sewage surveillance as an early warning system

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deepak Panchal ◽  
Purusottam Tripathy ◽  
Om Prakash ◽  
Abhishek Sharma ◽  
Sukdeb Pal
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Early Warning ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Early Warning System ◽  
Warning System ◽  
Quality Criteria ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Coliform Bacteria ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Water Quality Criteria

Abstract Coronavirus disease has emerged as one of the greatest threats to human well-being. Currently, the whole world is fighting against this pandemic that transmit either through exposure to virus laden respiratory or water droplets or by touching the virus contaminated surfaces. The viral load in feces of an infected patient varies according to the severity of the disease. Subsequent detection of viral genome (SARS-COV-2) in human feces and sewage systems is an emerging concern for public health. This also dictates to reinforce the existing sewage/wastewater treatment facilities. Rapid monitoring is the key to prevent and control the current mass transmission. Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) is a potential epidemiology tool that can act as a complementary approach for current infectious disease surveillance systems and an early warning system for disease outbreaks. In a developing country like India, inadequate wastewater treatment systems, low-operational facility and relaxed surface water quality criteria even in terms of fecal coliform bacteria are the major challenges for WBE. Herein, we review the occurrence, transmission, survival of SARS-CoV-2, disinfection and potential of sewage surveillance as an early warning system for COVID-19 spread. We also discuss the challenges of open-defecation practices affecting sewage-surveillance in real-time in densely populated developing countries like India.

scholarly journals Mobile technologies for disease surveillance in humans and animals

2014 ◽  
Vol 81 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mpoki Mwabukusi ◽  
Esron D. Karimuribo ◽  
Mark M. Rweyemamu ◽  
Eric Beda
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Real Time ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Mobile Technologies ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Real Time Data

A paper-based disease reporting system has been associated with a number of challenges. These include difficulties to submit hard copies of the disease surveillance forms because of poor road infrastructure, weather conditions or challenging terrain, particularly in the developing countries. The system demands re-entry of the data at data processing and analysis points, thus making it prone to introduction of errors during this process. All these challenges contribute to delayed acquisition, processing and response to disease events occurring in remote hard to reach areas. Our study piloted the use of mobile phones in order to transmit near to real-time data from remote districts in Tanzania (Ngorongoro and Ngara), Burundi (Muyinga) and Zambia (Kazungula and Sesheke). Two technologies namely, digital and short messaging services were used to capture and transmit disease event data in the animal and human health sectors in the study areas based on a server–client model. Smart phones running the Android operating system (minimum required version: Android 1.6), and which supported open source application, Epicollect, as well as the Open Data Kit application, were used in the study. These phones allowed collection of geo-tagged data, with the opportunity of including static and moving images related to disease events. The project supported routine disease surveillance systems in the ministries responsible for animal and human health in Burundi, Tanzania and Zambia, as well as data collection for researchers at the Sokoine University of Agriculture, Tanzania. During the project implementation period between 2011 and 2013, a total number of 1651 diseases event-related forms were submitted, which allowed reporters to include GPS coordinates and photographs related to the events captured. It was concluded that the new technology-based surveillance system is useful in providing near to real-time data, with potential for enhancing timely response in rural remote areas of Africa. We recommended adoption of the proven technologies to improve disease surveillance, particularly in the developing countries.

scholarly journals Strengthening foodborne diseases surveillance in the WHO African region: An essential need for disease control and food safety assurance

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (52) ◽  
pp. 6336-6353
Author(s):  
P Mensah ◽  
◽  
L Mwamakamba ◽  
S Kariuki ◽  
MC Fonkoua ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Safety ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Research Training ◽  
Resistant Bacteria ◽  
Foodborne Diseases ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Foodborne Disease ◽  
African Region ◽  
Chemical Contaminants ◽  
Use Of Resources

Several devastating outbreaks of foodborne diseases have been reported in the African region including acute aflatoxicosis in Kenya in 2004 and bromide poisoning in Angola in 2007. There are concerns about transmission of multiple antibiotic resistant bacteria and pesticide residues in foods. The globalization of the food trade which could increase the spread of food contaminants internationally is an emerging issue. The new International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) cover events of international importance including contaminated food and outbreaks of foodborne disease. The IHR (2005) and other international as well as regional agreements require Member States to strengthen surveillance systems including surveillance for foodborne diseases. WHO has been supporting countries to strengthen foodborne disease surveillance since 2003. This paper reports on the work of WHO and partners in the area of foodborne disease surveillance, the challenges and opportunities and provides perspectives for the area of its work. The paper shows that laboratory-based surveillance is the preferred system for foodborne disease surveillance since it allows early detection of outbreak strains and identification of risk factors with laboratory services as the cornerstone. Foodborne disease surveillance has been included in the revised Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) Strategy and there are guidelines for use by countries. WHO in collaboration with partners, especially the Global Food Infections Network (GFN), has been supporting countries to strengthen national analytical capacity for foodborne disease surveillance and research. Training for countries to detect, control and prevent foodborne and other enteric infections from farm to table has been conducted. The training for microbiologists and epidemiologists from public health, veterinary and food sectors involved in isolation, identification and typing of Salmonella sp, Campylobacter sp., Vibrio cholerae, Vibrio sp. and Shigella from human and food samples have been carried out. Research into specific topics in microbiology and chemical contaminants has been conducted. Three institutions in Cameroun, Mali and Nigeria have been designated as centres of excellence for chemical contaminants. Despite these significant achievements, a number of challenges remain. Most food safety programmes and food safety systems remain fragmented resulting in duplication of efforts and inefficient use of resources; and most laboratories in the African Region are poorly resourced. In countries where facilities exist, there is underutilization and lack of synergy among laboratories. Countries should, therefore, conduct audits of existing laboratories to determine their strengths and weaknesses and strategize as appropriate. It is also imperative to continue to strengthen partnerships and forge new ones and increase resources for food safety, in general, and for foodborne disease surveillance, in particular, and continue capacity building, both human and institutional.

scholarly journals Estimating burden of foodborne diseases where public health impact is higher and data scarcer: a study in four African countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
B Desta
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Diarrheal Disease ◽  
Risk Mitigation ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Foodborne Disease ◽  
Political Commitment ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Main Challenge

Abstract Low and middle-income countries, in particular from Africa, bear the highest burden of foodborne disease (FBD). However, because research and disease surveillance data from Africa are limited, previous burden estimates are subject to uncertainty. The main challenge to estimating burden of FBD in Africa is lack of data, where factors ranging from lack of capacity to lack of political commitment, and a focus on priority diseases, limit existing surveillance systems. To address this, we are working with Ethiopia, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Tanzania, to estimate the burden of, and strengthen surveillance systems for, FBD in Africa. We are conducting a population survey (to estimate incidence and distribution of diarrhea in the community), a systematic literature review (to estimate proportions of diarrheal disease caused by different agents), and an active review of available FBD reports (to estimate the extent of under-reporting in existing surveillance). Together, these findings will provide more accurate estimates of the burden of FBD for African countries. Lessons from this large-scale project can be extrapolated to other countries and regions where the burden is high but data are scarce. We highlight applying leadership attributes, including delegation of duties, setting milestones, regular meetings, transparency, and risk mitigation plans. The leading role of experts in this project helps to reduce hurdles. We have also adapted existing data collection tools for use across our diverse African study populations. We are engaging stakeholders who will use our research outputs, by involving them at all stages of the project. This integrated Knowledge Translation approach is translatable to other settings. These studies are part of FOCAL (Foodborne Disease Epidemiology, Surveillance, and Control in African LMIC), a multi-partner, multi-study project co-funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the United Kingdom's Department for International Development.

Surveillance of Foodborne Disease I. Purposes and Types of Surveillance Systems and Networks

1997 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 555-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN J. GUZEWICH ◽  
FRANK L. BRYAN ◽  
EWEN C. D. TODD
Keyword(s):  
Foodborne Pathogens ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Computer Software ◽  
Data Bank ◽  
Surveillance Data ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Foodborne Disease ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Laboratory Findings

This is the first part of a four-part series on foodborne disease surveillance. Although these articles are primarily built on expertise gained within North America, the substance is of value to any community or country wishing to initiate or improve its surveillance system. Foodborne disease surveillance is necessary for preventing further spread of foodborne disease and includes identifying and controlling outbreaks at the time they are occurring; gathering data on incidence of these diseases and prevalence of their etiologic agents, vehicles, and reservoirs; identifying factors that led to the outbreaks; providing a data bank for HACCP systems and risk assessments; estimating health and economic impacts of foodborne diseases; and providing information upon which to base rational food safety program goals and priorities. Reports of outbreaks by local health agencies to regional and, then, national agencies responsible for disease surveillance, laboratory isolations of certain foodborne pathogens from human beings, sentinel community studies, and hazard surveillance are the types of foodborne disease surveillance activities that are used to varying extents in Canada and the U.S. In recent years, some national surveillance reports have been collated internationally in Europe and Latin America. Surveillance at local, state/provincial, national, and international levels must be coordinated for effective and rapid transfer of data. Computer software can assist investigation and management of the information submitted through surveillance networks. Information summarized on individual reports usually includes (a) location of the event, (b) clinical data, (c) epidemiologic data, (d) laboratory findings, and (e) results of on-site investigations. Each outbreak report should be subjected to critical review before classifying it into the various categories of surveillance data. Such a review would also be useful when comparing surveillance data from different places and intervals. Highlights of individual reports are tabulated as line listings that are the direct sources of surveillance data, which are the subject of the second and third parts of this series.

scholarly journals Evaluation of REDCap to Supplement Foodborne Disease Surveillance Systems

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mugdha Golwakar ◽  
Kailey Lewis ◽  
Marcy McMillan ◽  
Katie Garman ◽  
John Dunn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Data Management ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Data Entry ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Foodborne Disease ◽  
Routine Surveillance ◽  
Data Elements ◽  
Successes And Challenges

ObjectiveThe objective of this study is to evaluate the use of a supplementary data management application to meet surveillance demands for foodborne disease in Tennessee and to highlight successes, challenges, and opportunities identified through this process.IntroductionThe Tennessee Department of Health (TDH) Foodborne Disease Program conducts routine surveillance for foodborne illnesses and enteric disease outbreaks and participates in statewide enhanced surveillance as part of the Foodborne Disease Center for Outbreak Response Enhancement (FoodCORE) and the Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet) supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). TDH uses the CDC NEDSS Base System (NBS) application for routine disease surveillance. However, NBS serves multiple disease programs within TDH and modifications to the system for the rapidly changing data demands, grant requirements, and outbreak needs of the foodborne program, may not be a priority for the system as a whole. In 2014, the TDH Foodborne Disease Program began using the Research Electronic Data Capture (REDCap) application as a solution to changing surveillance needs. FoodCORE, FoodNet, and routine surveillance data elements are entered into REDCap to supplement NBS, depending on program specific needs and system capability.MethodsREDCap was queried for FoodCORE, FoodNet, and routine surveillance projects. Projects were categorized by surveillance activity type. Epidemiologists provided qualitative feedback on successes and challenges in using REDCap to supplement NBS, which were then categorized into attributes according to existing frameworks for evaluating public health surveillance systems.1, 2ResultsAs of August 2018, the TDH Foodborne program housed 45 individual REDCap databases dedicated to surveillance. Four primary database categories were identified: routine case-based surveillance (8), enhanced/active surveillance (6), aggregate outbreak/cluster surveillance tracking (6), and outbreak-specific databases (25). The REDCap application programming interface (API) and an open database connection to NBS within SAS 9.4 (Cary, NC) were used to create unilateral data flow from NBS to REDCap, where possible. Successes and challenges in using REDCap fell into six main surveillance system attributes: Flexibility, Ease of Data Management, Stability, Simplicity, Efficiency, and Acceptability. Successes included the high level of control over data and databases offered by REDCap, the flexibility to rapidly implement program-specific changes, and the accessibility and reliability of REDCap as a de facto back-up of NBS data. Challenges included lack of interoperability between REDCap databases and with NBS, leading to dual data entry, overuse of REDCap resulting in unnecessarily complex and decentralized data storage (Figure 1), and increased personnel time on data management and extraction for metrics and reports.ConclusionsUsing REDCap in Tennessee to supplement an existing disease surveillance application increased flexibility and functionality of the foodborne disease surveillance system, but also added complexity and time involved in data management. The Nationally Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System Modernization Initiative (NMI) is developing a standardized message mapping guide (MMG) in collaboration with states and CDC, which incorporates FoodNet data elements and would transition data collection tools in NBS for foodborne diseases to a more portable and flexible format. Implementation of this MMG could minimize case-based data entry into REDCap. Tools that offer increased interoperability between NBS and REDCap and between REDCap databases could also improve the efficiency of using complementary applications for rapidly changing foodborne disease surveillance needs.References1. German RR, Lee LM, Horan JM, Milstein RL, Pertowski CA, Waller MN. Updated guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems: recommendations from the guidelines working group. MMWR Recomm Rep. 2001;50(Rr-13):1–35.2. Calba C, Goutard FL, Hoinville L, et al. Surveillance systems evaluation: a systematic review of the existing approaches. BMC Public Health. 2015;15:448. doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1791-5. 

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