The Current State of Data to Estimate Prevalence and Severity of Food Allergies in the United States.

Currently, in the United States, there is no comprehensive surveillance system to collect data on food allergies; however, prevalence and severity data are critical to quantify the burden of food allergies, develop evidence-based control measures, detect emerging issues, and monitor trends. To address this gap, we conducted a literature search, and expert interviews to identify surveillance systems and datasets that could be used to estimate the prevalence and severity of food allergies in the United States overall and for specific foods. Inclusion and exclusion criteria were developed and used to screen each data source.

Detection of gastrointestinal pathogens in stool samples using a rapid multiplex PCR test at a large tertiary pediatric hospital.

Acute gastrointestinal infections (AGIs) and diarrheal disease disproportionately impact children. The purpose of this study was to characterize the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of pediatric patients who had stool samples tested using the BIOFIRE® FILMARRAY® Gastrointestinal Panel at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio from January 2016 to December 2020. Detection rates were estimated by pathogen.

Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in veterinary medicine in the United States: Current efforts, challenges, and opportunities.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global problem facing human, animal, plant, and environmental health by threatening our ability to effectively treat bacterial infections with antimicrobials. In the United States, robust surveillance efforts exist to collect, analyze, and disseminate AMR data in human health care settings. These tools enable the development of effective infection control methods, the detection of trends, and provide the evidence needed to guide stewardship efforts to reduce the potential for emergence and further spread of AMR.

Real-time gastrointestinal infection surveillance through a cloud-based network of clinical laboratories.

Acute gastrointestinal infection (AGI) represents a significant public health concern. To control and treat AGI, it is critical to quickly and accurately identify its causes. The use of novel multiplex molecular assays for pathogen detection and identification provides a unique opportunity to improve pathogen detection, and better understand risk factors and burden associated with AGI in the community.

Antimicrobial drug resistant non-typhoidal in commercial poultry value chain in Chitwan, Nepal.

Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) among bacterial pathogens is a fast-growing public health concern. AMR in non-typhoidal serovars (NTS) among food animals is of special concern as this may transmit resistant pathogens to humans during handling or consumption of animal products. In Nepal, the possibility of AMR serovars among food animals is an important area of research, particularly in light of the rapidly growing poultry industry, lack of surveillance and proper biosecurity measures; and paucity of relevant data.

The Public Health Impact of Implementing a Concentration-Based Microbiological Criterion for Controlling Salmonella in Ground Turkey.

Despite initiatives to improve the safety of poultry products in the United States, progress has stalled, and salmonellosis incidence is still above Healthy People 2020's goal. One strategy to manage Salmonella and verify process control in poultry establishments is to implement microbiological criteria (MC) linked to public health outcomes. Concentration-based MC have been used by the food industry; however, the public health impact of such approaches is only starting to be assessed.

Risk Benefit Assessment of foods: Key findings from an international workshop.

Whilst risk management measures, including food policy, are developed for the protection of public health and the environment, they may also lead to a reduction in health benefits. Policy decisions require then consideration of these necessary trade-offs, which leads to an increasing need to apply formal risk-benefit assessment (RBA) of foods. In this context, the European Food Safety Authority sponsored a Risk-Benefit Assessment Workshop on "past, current and future developments within the risk-benefit assessment of foods (RBA)" held in May 2017.

Food-specific attribution of selected gastrointestinal illnesses: estimates from a Canadian expert elicitation survey.

The study used a structured expert elicitation survey to derive estimates of food-specific attribution for nine illnesses caused by enteric pathogens in Canada. It was based on a similar survey conducted in the United States and focused on Campylobacter spp., Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, nontyphoidal Salmonella enterica, Shigella spp.

From ontology selection and semantic web to an integrated information system for food-borne diseases and food safety.

Several factors have hindered effective use of information and resources related to food safety due to inconsistency among semantically heterogeneous data resources, lack of knowledge on profiling of food-borne pathogens, and knowledge gaps among research communities, government risk assessors/managers, and end-users of the information. This paper discusses technical aspects in the establishment of a comprehensive food safety information system consisting of the following steps: (a) computational collection and compiling publicly available information, including published pathogen genomic, proteomic, and metabolomic data; (b) development of ontology libraries on food-borne pathogens and design automatic algorithms with formal inference and fuzzy and probabilistic reasoning to address the consistency and accuracy of distributed information resources (e.g.

Foodborne proportion of gastrointestinal illness: estimates from a Canadian expert elicitation survey.

The study used a structured expert elicitation survey to derive estimates of the foodborne attributable proportion for nine illnesses caused by enteric pathogens in Canada. It was based on a similar study conducted in the United States and focused on Campylobacter, Escherichia coli O157:H7, Listeria monocytogenes, nontyphoidal Salmonella enterica, Shigella spp., Vibrio spp.

A multifactorial risk prioritization framework for foodborne pathogens.

We develop a prioritization framework for foodborne risks that considers public health impact as well as three other factors (market impact, consumer risk acceptance and perception, and social sensitivity). Canadian case studies are presented for six pathogen-food combinations: Campylobacter spp. in chicken; Salmonella spp.

Isolation of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis from waste milk delivered to California calf ranches.

The objective of this study was to determine if viable Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) was present in waste milk delivered and fed to calves on California calf ranches. Four calf-raising facilities in the Central Valley of California that fed pasteurized waste milk to calves were enrolled.

Survey of ground beef for the detection of Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis.

Mycobacterium avium paratuberculosis (MAP) is thought to be associated with Crohn's disease in humans. Since Johne's disease affects dairy and beef cattle, meat may be a possible route of transmission of MAP to humans. In this study, we compared a rapid multiplex real time PCR assay and conventional culture to detect MAP in ground beef.

Modified culture protocol for isolation of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis from raw milk.

A modified culture method using C18-carboxypropylbetaine (CB-18) and microscopic screening was evaluated for time to and limit of detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) in raw milk. Bulk-tank milk samples were spiked with six different concentrations (10(1) to 10(6) CFU/mL) of MAP.

Detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis in bovine manure using Whatman FTA card technology and Lightcycler real-time PCR.

A modified forensic DNA extraction and real-time fluorescent polymerase chain reaction assay has been evaluated for the detection of Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) in bovine fecal samples using primers and fluorescent resonance energy transfer (FRET) probes targeting the IS900 gene sequence of MAP. DNA was successfully extracted from manure samples by utilizing the Whatman FTA card technology, which allows for simple processing and storage of samples at room temperature.

Development and evaluation of a real-time fluorescent polymerase chain reaction assay for the detection of bovine contaminates in cattle feed.

A real-time fluorescent polymerase chain reaction assay for detecting prohibited ruminant materials such as bovine meat and bone meal (BMBM) in cattle feed using primers and FRET probes targeting the ruminant specific mitochondrial cytochrome b gene was developed and evaluated on two different types of cattle feed. Common problems involved with PCR based testing of cattle feed include the presence of high levels of PCR inhibitors and the need for certain pre-sample processing techniques in order to perform DNA extractions. We have developed a pre-sample processing technique for extracting DNA from cattle feed which does not require the feed sample to be ground to a fine powder and utilizes materials that are disposed of between samples, thus, reducing the potential of cross contamination.