FDA ESTABLISHES FOODBORNE ILLNESS OUTBREAK RESPONSE NETWORK

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced a streamlined, integrated approach to effectively and rapidly respond to human and animal foodborne illness outbreaks: the FDA Coordinated Outbreak Response and Evaluation (CORE) Network.

The CORE Network is comprised of a multi-disciplinary team of epidemiologists, veterinarians, microbiologists, environmental health specialists, emergency coordinators, and risk communications specialists. Working full-time on outbreak prevention and response at headquarters, the CORE is complemented by trained, experienced investigators in FDA field offices nationwide. CORE will coordinate closely with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and state public health and agriculture agencies in human and animal foodborne illness outbreaks.