CDC Norovirus Page. The CDC norovirus page includes information about symptoms, how it spreads, treatment, how it can be prevented, trends and outbreaks, information for food handlers, information for health care providers, information for public health professionals, types of laboratory tests used to diagnose norovirus, and other resources.

CDC Salmonella Page. The CDC Salmonella page includes information about symptoms, how it spreads, diagnosis and treatment, technical information, prevention, recent outbreaks, and other reports and publications.

CDC Clostridium perfringens Page. The CDC C. perfringens page includes information about symptoms, how it spreads, who is at risk, diagnosis and treatment, common food sources, and prevention strategies.

CDC’s Most Common Contributing Factors. A list of the most common contributing factors with extensive descriptions, organized by contamination, survival, and proliferation factors.

Pathogen Quick Guide. A quick reference table of common causative agents with incubation period, duration, symptoms, characteristics, and control measures. (from Boulder County Health Department)

IAFP Keys (MS Excel file). The IAFP keys are an essential tool for determining likely contributing factors based on the causative agent, organized by the type of food and processing methods. (from the International Association for Food Protection)

Common Causative Agents and Clinical Symptoms Table (MS Word file). A list of common causative agents with incubation and duration periods, organized into groups by symptoms (neurological, upper GI, lower GI, and stomach flu) (from Boulder County Health Department)

Contributing Factors Questions. A list of questions to ask during an environmental assessment to determine contributing factors for three of the most common causative agents, norovirus, salmonella, and c. perfringens.

EpiReady. The Epi-Ready course is a team-based training for public health professionals involved in foodborne disease outbreak investigations. Coordinated by the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) and funded by CDC, it is a two day, face-to-face training. Epi-Ready focuses on how to efficiently and effectively respond to a foodborne disease outbreak through a “team-based” approach, bringing together the disciplines involved in the investigation of these outbreaks.

CDC-EHS. This e-Learning course module provides training on how to use a systems approach in foodborne outbreak environmental assessments. Participants acquire in-depth skills and knowledge to investigate foodborne illness outbreaks as a member of a larger outbreak response team, identify an outbreak’s environmental causes, and recommend appropriate control measures.

Tennessee Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence. The Tennessee Integrated Food Safety Center of Excellence has an Outbreak Essential Series training which provides basic understanding of the steps in an outbreak investigation, study designs, and writing outbreak reports.

Chemical sanitization
Involves the use of an approved chemical sanitizer at a specified concentration and contact time.

Disinfectant
Disinfectants are stronger solutions intended for routine use on surfaces contaminated with high hazard body fluids, such as blood, feces, urine, vomit, sputum, and mucus. The most commonly used disinfectant is a solution containing a quarter cup (1/4 cup) of unscented household bleach mixed with one gallon of water.

Disinfection
The destruction of pathogenic microorganisms or their toxins or vectors by direct exposure to chemical or physical agents.

Potentially Hazardous Foods
This term is used to classify foods that require time and temperature control to keep them fit for human consumption. Any food that contains moisture, protein, and is in a form capable of supporting the rapid and accelerating growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms. Potentially hazardous foods can be either natural or man-made, neutral, or slightly acidic with a pH value between 4.6 and 7.5.

Proper Cooking Temperatures of Potentially Hazardous Foods
All foods such as beef, poultry, pork, and other meats must be thoroughly cooked to their proper temperature.

Chicken/Poultry and stuffed meats – 165F

Ground meat, Ratites, mechanically tenderized and injected meats – 155F

• – Eggs – 145F
• – Pork, Lamb, Fish – 145F
• – Beef (steak or roast) – 145F*

*Taken from the FDA 2009 Model Food Code (Chapter 3-401.11 Raw Animal Foods)

Proper Hand Hygiene
It is vital that all food workers practice proper hand hygiene by washing hands thoroughly and frequently (for a minimum of 20 seconds) with soap and warm water, especially after using the toilet and always before preparing food and donning gloves.

Sanitization
Approved sanitization procedures are processes and, thus, the duration or time as well as the chemical conditions must be described. The official definition (Association of Official Analytical Chemists) of sanitizing for food product contact surfaces is a process which reduces the contamination level by 99.999% (5 logs) in 30 sec. The official definition for non-product contact surfaces requires a contamination reduction of 99.9% (3 logs). The standard test organisms used are: Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli.

Sanitizer
Sanitizers are moderate strength solutions intended for routine use on surfaces where food is prepared or served. The most commonly used sanitizer is a solution containing one tablespoon of unscented household bleach mixed with one gallon of water.

Ten Percent Household Bleach
A stronger bleach and water solution consisting of one cup of unscented household bleach mixed with nine cups of water. This strong concentration is necessary to denature certain viruses, particularly norovirus, which is often the cause of large outbreaks.

Thermal sanitization
Involves the use of hot water or steam for a specified temperature and contact time.