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It happens ... food poisoning

Idaho State Journal - 6/28/2017

Each year, about 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) get sick from a foodborne illness. Many of these cases occur one by one, but some illnesses are part of outbreaks.

If two or more people have the same illness in a given period and area, it’s called a cluster. The cluster becomes an outbreak if the investigation of these illnesses finds that these people became infected from the same food or other common source.

Finding the source of an outbreak is important, because the food could still be in stores, restaurants or kitchens and therefore could make more people sick. By investigating outbreaks, we can stop them so more people don’t get sick and we can learn about what went wrong, to keep similar outbreaks from happening in the future.

You play an important role in helping the network of people and organizations who investigate foodborne disease outbreaks. Three ways you can help when you’re sick with food poisoning:

1. Report Your Illness to Your Health Department

If you have food poisoning, or got sick after contact with an animal, report it to your local or state health department. You can refer to your state health department website to find more information about how to contact your local health department.

Reporting your illness and symptoms helps your local or state health department identify foodborne disease outbreaks. Health departments track reports of illnesses and look for groups of people with similar symptoms and exposures.

2. Talk to Your Health Care Provider

Talk to your health care provider about testing you for foodborne disease. Health care providers can order stool or blood tests that can tell them if you have a foodborne disease. These tests are sent to laboratories where germs are cultured (grown) from your sample and the results are uploaded to a database called PulseNet.

PulseNet is a network of local and state public health laboratories and federal food regulatory laboratories that performs DNA fingerprinting of foodborne germs. These “DNA fingerprints” can be used to compare the infecting bacteria with that from other sources to determine if they’re linked.

3. Write Down What You Ate and What You Did

If you get sick with food poisoning, make a food diary and write everything down that you can remember eating in the week before you started to get sick, including any restaurants or special events you may have attended. Remember, the time between swallowing a germ and feeling the first signs of illness is typically 2-3 days, and sometimes longer. The contaminated food is usually not the last food eaten before a person feels sick.

It is also important to write down any contact with pets or other animals you remember in the days before you got sick. Gather and save any food receipts you have kept from the grocery store, market, or restaurants. You may be asked to share these with investigators. Source: CDC.gov

Taking time to share information about your illness will help inform professionals of a possible connection to others in our community. Practicing food safe practices will help the summer be more fun than we imagined.

Julie Buck, EdD, MHE, RD, is a registered dietitian, food safety specialist and health educator employed at the University of Idaho Extension, Bannock County. She can be reached at (208)236-7310 or jhbuck@uidaho.edu.

Melissa Hartley