Epidemiology

Laboratory Science

Plenary Session

This panel will include a series of case presentations that will describe existing public health partnerships and prevention priorities of the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases (DFWED). A speaker from the International Fresh Produce Association will discuss how industry partners use, share, and interpret whole genome sequencing information to produce safer food and guide food safety interventions. Next, an epidemiologist from DFWED will share high-level summary of the latest outbreak data in correctional settings followed by experiences from epidemiologists and environmental health specialists from state health departments. Speakers will highlight common findings and experiences from outbreaks and investigations, consider the overall challenges of food safety operations in correctional facilities, and discuss opportunities for training. By reviewing commonalities in outbreaks from both the epidemiology and environmental health perspectives, public health can support critical, early identification of food safety issues in this specialized setting and collaborate on possible prevention strategies to reduce foodborne outbreaks in correctional settings. Finally, a speaker from CDC’s Enteric Disease Laboratory Branch (EDLB) will describe their ongoing partnership with the Association of Public Health Laboratories and bioMérieux, a biotechnology company, to address false positive Cryptosporidium results from the BioFire instrument.

Plenary Session

This panel will include a series of case presentations that will describe the importance of health communication and (re)building trust with the public. The Program Manager at the Partnership for Food Safety Education will set the stage by sharing what their organization is hearing from consumers and health educators about trust in the government, food safety, and the US food system. Next, the Director of CDC’s Division of Communication Sciences and Services will describe CDC’s tips and technologies for identifying and combatting misinformation and disinformation. They will describe a new resource with the audience, CDC’s Playbook for Action. This playbook aims to give users a step-by-step guide to handling misinformation and disinformation within a public health organization. Finally, the CEO of Center for Food Integrity/Founder and CEO of Look East will speak on trust and truth in a “post-truth world,” encouraging the audience that connecting on shared values is more important than simply being transparent with our data.

Plenary Session

This training will dive into all things SEDRIC, including basic platform uses for day-to-day surveillance and outbreak response activities, as well as advanced features and analytic tools for seasoned users. We will split the session into 3 main categories: Basic Tools and Functions, New Surveillance Pathogens, and Advanced-Use cases/scenarios.