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BACKGROUND: To facilitate implementation of recommendations included in the CIFOR Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Outbreak Response, a companion Toolkit was developed to help users examine current foodborne disease outbreak activities in their jurisdiction and how they might be improved.
METHODS: The Toolkit was developed by a workgroup with expertise in epidemiology, environmental health, laboratory sciences, and food safety with representatives from local, state, and federal public health agencies. It was first distributed in 2010 and updated in 2014-15, following revision of the CIFOR Guidelines. CSTE/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) grants were awarded to state and local health jurisdictions to facilitate Toolkit use.
RESULTS: The Toolkit promotes a stepwise process whereby users consider current foodborne disease outbreak response activities in their jurisdiction, prioritize areas in need of improvement and specific CIFOR recommendations to address those areas, and ultimately make plans to implement selected recommendations. Easy-to-use worksheets, completed in an ordered sequence, support examination of foodborne disease outbreak investigation activities in 11 possible focus areas (relationships, resources, communication, complaint systems, pathogen-specific surveillance, initial steps in an investigation, epidemiologic investigation, environmental health investigation, laboratory investigation, control of the source and secondary spread, and food recall) and CIFOR recommendations related to those focus areas. “Keys to success” help users identify which focus areas are in greatest need of improvement in their jurisdiction and which focus area worksheets should be completed. Based on evaluations received from over 400 users of the 2010 Toolkit and a formal evaluation by Rand Health, respondents found the Toolkit easy to use, providing structure and direction for discussions to improve foodborne outbreak investigation in an agency or jurisdiction. Respondents also felt that the Toolkit made the CIFOR Guidelines easier to understand and increased the likelihood that actions would be taken to implement recommendations from the CIFOR Guidelines.
CONCLUSIONS: In this discussion we will distribute copies of the revised Toolkit and walk participants through its components. We will discuss settings in which the Toolkit might be used and necessary resources. Participants from state and local jurisdictions that received CSTE/CDC grants for implementation of the Toolkit will be asked to share their experiences and ideas to improve the Toolkit.