CDC funds tracking, investigatation and prevention of foodborne disease
Just less than half is from the National Action Plan for the Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria.
The grants come through CDC’s Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Infectious Diseases Cooperative Agreement (ELC) and are part of $240m awarded this year.
They include increased help for the PulseNet and OutbreakNet Enhanced systems and for the Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence, plus continued support for the National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS).
The grants will support training to ensure health departments have the ability to use advanced technologies, including whole genome sequencing (WGS).
Every state is expected to be able to acquire related equipment by September 2017 and work towards performing WGS on bacteria, including Salmonella, Shigella and Campylobacter.
The funding will also help seven new OutbreakNet Enhanced sites, out of eighteen, that provide support to state health departments to improve capacity to detect, investigate and control foodborne disease outbreaks and Enhanced Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence activities including outbreak investigation consultation and training epidemiologists on WGS.
