Q&A
Coordination with other agencies to assess outbreak risks
1:03:12
ยท
91 sec
Council Member Moya asks about how DOHMH's surveillance systems and coordination with other agencies help assess outbreak risks in other locations that may affect New York City. Sudha Reddy explains the process using a foodborne disease outbreak example.
- DOHMH investigates outbreaks in coordination with other states
- Data sharing networks allow comparison of risk factors and laboratory results
- Example given of a listeriosis outbreak associated with deli meat
- Coordination helps identify outbreak sources quickly
Francisco P. Moya
1:03:12
So that was my follow-up question was, so these surveillance systems that you have in place and working with other agencies that, Does that help you assess whether the outbreak in another state or country presents a special risk to New York City?
Sudha Reddy
1:03:29
Yeah, yes.
1:03:31
Thank you for your question.
1:03:33
So one example I will go to is a possible foodborne disease outbreak.
1:03:38
So last year we investigated in The US there was a large outbreak of listeriosis associated with deli meat.
1:03:46
We had cases here in New York City and there were cases in other states.
1:03:50
And so because we have this surveillance system of reporting cases to the health department but also sending specimens to our public health lab, we're able to do additional testing specimens or isolates to see that patients that were diagnosed with listeria that was related to deli meat in New York City were related to, had the same strain in other states.
1:04:15
And we have systems in place of data sharing both on the risk factor and epidemiologic level, but also on the laboratory level to see that patients with the same strains in New York City were similar to those in other cases.
1:04:31
And we have such a great data sharing network that we're able to compare data on what people ate to help us identify the deli meat as soon as possible.