Research Projects

Foodborne Diseases Active Surveillance Network (FoodNet)

THE FOODBORNE DISEASES ACTIVE SURVEILLANCE NETWORK (FOODNET) is the foodborne disease component of CDC's Emerging Infections Program (EIP). FoodNet is a collaborative project among CDC, the 10 EIP sites, the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). FoodNet consists of active surveillance for foodborne diseases and related epidemiologic studies designed to help public health officials better understand the epidemiology of infections commonly transmitted through food in the United States . FoodNet provides a network for responding to new and emerging foodborne diseases of national importance, monitoring the burden of foodborne diseases, and identifying the sources of specific foodborne diseases.

FoodCORE - Foodborne Diseases Centers for Outbreak Response Enhancement

FoodCORE-Foodborne Diseases Centers for Outbreak Response Enhancement-began as a CDC funded pilot project in 2009 in three sites to improve state and local hth department responses to foodborne disease outbreaks. It was so successful that the project currently fully or partially funds 7 sites, encompassing approximately 15% of the US population. FoodCORE sites are working together to develop new and better methods to detect, investigate, respond to, and control multistate outbreaks of foodborne diseases. Although efforts are primarily focused on outbreaks caused by bacteria including Salmonella, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and Listeria, the ability to detect and investigate viral and parasitic foodborne disease outbreaks will also be enhanced and strengthened.

FluSurv-NET - Influenza and RSV Surveillance

The Connecticut EIP's FluSurv-NET team conducts surveillance for severe influenza as well as severe respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections as part of the national FluSurv-NET system. EIP staff work with CTDPH, CDC, and hospital infection preventionists to conduct surveillance among residents of southern Connecticut.

Human Papillomavirus Vaccine Impact Monitoring Project Across CT (HPV-IMPACT)

This project aims to monitor the impact of HPV vaccine on population health by tracking high-grade cervical lesions (HGCLs) and the HPV types associated with those lesions.

Tick-Borne Diseases Network (TickNET)

In the United States, there are ten recognized tick-associated human illnesses: Lyme disease (LD), Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA), human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME), tularemia, Southern tick-associated rash illness (STARI), tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF), Colorado tick fever, Powassan encephalitis, and babesiosis. These tick-borne diseases (TBDs) account for the majority of vector-borne infections reported in the United States. Each year approximately 30,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported to the CDC, ranking it among the ten most common infectious diseases in the nation. Several TBDs can cause severe morbidity and even death.

Legionella Activities

The Emerging Infections Program (EIP), in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), is conducting activities to better understand legionellosis in Connecticut.

Group B Strep Case-Control Study

The Emerging Infections Program (EIP), in partnership with the Connecticut Department of Public Health (CT DPH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is conducting a multi-site research study to understand how a pregnant woman's immune system helps protect her baby from a group B Streptococcus (group B strep) infection.