TY - GEN T1 - Reducing the barriers against analytical epidemiological studies in investigations of local foodborne disease outbreaks in Germany – a starter kit for local health authorities AU - Werber, Dirk AU - Bernard, Helen AB - Thousands of infectious food-borne disease outbreaks (FBDO) are reported annually to the European Food Safety Authority within the framework of the zoonoses Directive (2003/99/EC). Most recognised FBDO occur locally following point source exposure, but only few are investigated using analytical epidemiological studies. In Germany, and probably also in other countries of the European Union, this seems to be particularly true for those investigated by local health authorities. Analytical studies, usually cohort studies or case–control studies, are a powerful tool to identify suspect food vehicles. Therefore, from a public health and food safety perspective, their more frequent usage is highly desirable. We have developed a small toolbox consisting of a strategic concept and a simple software tool for data entry and analysis, with the objective to increase the use of analytical studies in the investigation of local point source FBDO in Germany. KW - Humans KW - Female KW - Germany/epidemiology KW - Risk Factors KW - Public Health KW - Population Surveillance/methods KW - Disease Outbreaks KW - Foodborne Diseases/epidemiology KW - Food Contamination/statistics & numerical data KW - Foodborne Diseases/etiology KW - Foodborne Diseases/microbiology KW - Guidelines as Topic KW - 610 Medizin PY - 2014 LA - eng PB - Robert Koch-Institut, Infektionsepidemiologie VL - 19 IS - 8 DO - http://dx.doi.org/10.25646/1758 ER -