Public Health Tools and Prevention
Through applied research, we improve public health tools and increase the scientific basis for prevention.
In FY2004, we continued the multi year international effort to develop new molecular tools for subtyping Salmonella and Campylobacter, harnessing the latest DNA methodologies to the practical problem of characterizing these complicated organisms.
We aim to replace traditional serotyping with a molecular equivalent and to develop an improved strategy for subtyping that can eventually replace pulsed field gel electrophoresis in PulseNet. We characterized new molecular loci of antimicrobial resistance in Salmonella and Campylobacter.
We continued the commercialization of a new rapid and sensitive ELISA test for detecting botulism toxin. The FoodNet study of Campylobacter infections linked these to eating undercooked poultry, particularly in restaurants, and linked poultry consumption and foreign travel with fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter infections. These data were used by the FDA to propose a withdrawal of approval of fluoroquinolone for poultry.
Our CDC Safe Water program enables communities in the developing world to make their drinking water safe. In FY2004 in Kenya, we found that this program reduced diarrheal illness by 50%. Because simple chlorination is less effective in murky water, we developed a new product with Procter and Gamble that both clarifies and disinfects drinking water. In FY2004, we showed that this product was effective in reducing disease in Kenya and Bangladesh. We published a major study showing that hand washing with soap reduced diarrheal illness by more than 40% in Pakistani children.
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Page last modified: September 07, 2007
Page last reviewed: September 07, 2007