Developing a workshop on foodborne-disease epidemiology and surveillance training. (NEHA News).

Together with the Food Safety Initiative office of the National Centers for Infectious Disease (NCID) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NEHA has been selected as the lead organization to develop basic epidemiology training targeted to local environmental health professionals. The goals of the training include increasing competency and confidence levels of environmental health professionals in foodborne-disease investigation and surveillance, improving foodborne-outbreak reporting, and better integrating local and state health departments into CDC's national health surveillance network.

The NEHA Epidemiology Training and Development Committee, whose members bring many years of public-health experience to the program, will undertake the work of curriculum development. The committee includes representatives from CDC and the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), and it has the following members:

* Art Bloom (past president of NEHA),

* Elaine Brainerd (American Nurses Foundation),

* Vickie Church (San Diego Department of Environmental Health),

* Holly Coleman (Chatham County Health Department),

* Cheryl Connelly (National Association of County and City Health Officials [NACCHO]),

* David Goldman (U.S. Department of Agriculture),

* Jack Guzewich (Food and Drug Administration),

* Bob Harrington (Casper/Natrona County Health Department),

* Ernest Julian (State of Rhode Island Department of Health),

* George Nakamura (Contra Costa Health Services),

* Kenneth Pearson (Knox County Health Department),

* Lawrence Pong (San Francisco Environmental Health),

* Cindy Roberts (National Agricultural Library),

* Michele Samarya-Timm (Franklin Township Health Department),

* Becki Shapak (NACCHO), and

* Mark Schmidt (Michigan Department of Community Health).

Initially, the committee will review existing epidemiology training materials for their relevance to the development of an introductory course, The evaluation will allow the committee to identify a best-model framework for the new course. Once the course curriculum has been established, CDC and NEHA personnel will conduct a pilot workshop in Atlanta and later regionalize the workshops. The workshop will be an all-expenses paid training opportunity for our members, and a train-the-trainer methodology will enhance sustainability.

For more information about this program, please contact Tom Dickey, project coordinator, by phone at [phone] or by e-mail at [e-mail]. Or contact Kristin Benn, project specialist, by phone at [phone], extension 342, or by e-mail at [e-mail].