Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response
Welcome to our webpage dedicated to exploring the Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response
(CIFOR), featuring our NACCHO representatives who hold positions within the Council. Here, you'll find comprehensive information about CIFOR's objectives, the vital roles played by NACCHO representatives, and actionable steps on how local health departments can actively engage and contribute towards CIFOR’s mission.
The National Association for County and City Health Officials is one of the founding members of CIFOR. NACCHO represents the local health department's perspective within the council and provides key insight on the barriers at the local level in response to foodborne illness.
The Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response (CIFOR) is a multidisciplinary collaboration of national associations comprised of state and local agency representatives and federal public health agencies whose combined goal is to improve methods at the local, state, and federal levels to detect, investigate, control, and prevent foodborne disease outbreaks. Established in 2006, its aim is to enhance strategies for identifying, probing, managing, and averting outbreaks of foodborne illnesses. Representing the council are professionals in various fields such as epidemiology, environmental health, public health laboratories, and regulatory agencies involved in foodborne disease surveillance and outbreak response, spanning across local, state, and federal jurisdictions.
The CIFOR mission is to improve and promote methods and processes to detect, investigate, control, and prevent foodborne disease outbreaks in the United States by leveraging effective collaboration at the local, state, tribal, territorial, and federal levels. The Council identifies barriers to rapid detection and response to foodborne disease outbreaks, and then develops guidelines and tools to address them.
Chaired by the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists and NACCHO, CIFOR also includes representatives from the Association of Food and Drug Officials, Association of Public Health Laboratories, Association of State and Territorial Health Officials, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, National Association of State Public Health Veterinarians, and National Environmental Health Association. More information about CIFOR can be found at www.cifor.us.
CIFOR has contributed to the development of a variety of products to assist with responding to foodborne disease outbreaks. Recent products include the CIFOR 3rd Edition Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Outbreak Response and its companion toolkit that contains a series of worksheets and model program activities.
The CIFOR Toolkit helps state and local health departments understand the contents of the Guidelines, furthers their ability to conduct self-assessments of their outbreak detection and investigation procedures, and facilitates implementation of appropriate recommendations from the nine chapters in the Guidelines.
The CIFOR Learning Modules is another resource that provide summaries of the CIFOR Guidelines on a variety of topics, including legal preparedness, planning and preparation, surveillance and outbreak detection, control measures, and multi-jurisdictional outbreaks.
Sign up to receive updates on new CIFOR resources, funding opportunities, and more.
CIFOR is comprised of a Governance Committee and workgroups that fulfill the CIFOR mission:
Workgroup 1: Increase the capacity of public health systems to identify and eliminate contributing factors (CF) and environmental antecedents (EA) associated with foodborne disease outbreaks.
Workgroup 2: Increase communication and collaboration among the network of public health professionals responding to foodborne disease outbreaks.
Workgroup 3: Improve the ability of public health professionals who investigate foodborne disease outbreaks to implement effective recruitment and retention strategies.
Workgroup 4: Identify and promote strategies to reduce the time from specimen collection to completion of whole genome sequence analysis.
Workgroup 5: Identify and promote strategies to collect, integrate, analyze, and act on data more rapidly and completely during foodborne disease outbreaks.
Workgroup 6: Develop and promote model practices and other tools using a cross-organizational, multidisciplinary approach to improve foodborne outbreak investigation.
Promote Team: Coordinates the promotion of CIFOR products and of CIFOR as a credible source of information for use by decision makers. Collaborates with Workgroups to strategize and execute promotional activities in alignment with the CIFOR Strategic Plan.
Sign up to join a CIFOR Workgroup or Team now or in the future.
NACCHO's CIFOR representatives not only advocate for and represent NACCHO, but they also offer their expertise and a viewpoint from the local health perspective in addressing foodborne disease outbreaks. NACCHO CIFOR representatives serve as either co-chair on the Council or subject matter experts in CIFOR workgroups.
Ki Ran Straughn, RS, Environmental Health Services Supervisor at Public Health – Seattle & King County (PHSKC), has over 35 years of experience in Environmental Health. She was born in Seoul, South Korea and grew up in the Pacific Northwest. Ki is dedicated to servant leadership through quality assurance, workforce and professional development trainings, and program alignment with Voluntary National Retail Food Regulatory Program Standards, adoption of current FDA Model Food Code and with best practices in Foodborne Illness Outbreak Response. She is passionate about helping diverse communities she serves through education and cultural competency trainings and for those with English as Second Language (ESL). Ki has presented at NACCHO360, FDA Pacific Regional Conferences, NEHA AEC on the topic of ‘Sustaining Efforts to Achieve Conformance with the Retail Program Standards’ and served as Mentor on NEHA Leadership Academy. As NACCHO representative, she currently serves as Co-chair of CIFOR, a member of the NACCHO Foodborne Illness Outbreak Community of Practice and Collaborative’s Retail Food Safety Advisory Group, and as voting member for multiple standing committees of Conference for Food Protection Council. She has also been instrumental in securing multiple staff trainings to the Pacific Northwest region for all WA state local health jurisdictions to participate working with NACCHO Mentorship programs, Epi-Ready Trainings, AFDO Grants and Environmental Sampling, HACCP/Special Processes and WA Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence.
Contact Ki Ran at [email protected].
Sarah Jensen MPH, REHS, CP-FS is an Assistant Health Commissioner and the Director of Environmental Health at Franklin County Public Health. She started as Food Safety and School Health Division Manager at FCPH in October 2020 and was promoted to AHC and Director of EH in November 2022. Sarah has 10 years of direct food safety experience, in both the public and private sectors as well as research experience. She represents the Mid-Atlantic Region on the Executive Board of the Conference for Food Protection. She started as a REHS in Greene County, where she stayed for about 6 years. In addition to running the Environmental Health Division, Sarah is the PI in FCPH’s EHS-Net research in collaboration with the FDA, CDC, and George Washington University, where they are researching the link between Certified Food Safety Managers and inspection results. And participate in a nationwide multi-site study looking into sick food worker policy. Sarah is passionate about developing her staff and mentoring future leaders in public health.
Contact Sarah at [email protected].
Amanda Anderson, MPH, RS completed her Master of Public Health degree eleven years ago and was privileged to find a position as an Environmental Health Specialist shortly after graduation. Environmental Health was not her passion at that time, but her enthusiasm for the discipline quickly grew. During her 10 years in Environmental Health, Amanda has been an inspector, an Administrative Supervisor, an Environmental Health Supervisor leading Pima County’s training and grants teams, and now serves as a Program Manager overseeing their vector and non-food program, training program, plan review program, grant program, and foodborne illness team.
Contact Amanda at [email protected].
Scott E. Holmes, MS, REHS, is a former representative of CIFOR is passionate about building, sustaining, and empowering an effective environmental health workforce. After managing the Environmental Public Health Division with the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department for 32 years, he is now serving as a consultant with the Nebraska Association of Local Health Directors to help Nebraska’s local public health departments enhance environmental public health capacity. Scott currently serves as the Board of the National Environmental Health Association and served as a Mentor for the first two cohorts of NEHA's Environmental Health Leadership Academy. Scott has served on numerous other boards, including as a long-standing co-chair of CIFOR, the Nebraska Board of Environmental Health Specialists, the State Emergency Response Commission, the National Center for Environmental Health Board of Scientific Counselors, and UL's Environmental and Public Health Council.
NACCHO is looking for representatives that possess key skill sets. These skill sets encompass a combination of technical expertise, communication abilities, teamwork, and critical thinking skills necessary for effectively preventing, detecting, and responding to foodborne illness outbreaks.
Competencies:
Professionals involved in foodborne illness and outbreak response typically require a diverse set of skills and knowledge. Here are some key skill sets expected for individuals serving as NACCHO representatives.
- Epidemiology: Understanding of epidemiological principles and methods to investigate the spread and causes of foodborne illnesses. This includes knowledge of study design, data analysis, and interpretation of findings.
- Microbiology and Food Safety: Knowledge of microbiology, including foodborne pathogens, their sources, transmission routes, and survival mechanisms. Understanding of food safety principles, hazard analysis critical control points (HACCP), and foodborne illness prevention measures. Ability to investigate potential root causes of outbreaks.
- Public Health Surveillance: Ability to utilize surveillance systems and epidemiological data to monitor trends, detect outbreaks, and assess the effectiveness of interventions. Familiarity with surveillance tools, data collection methods, and analysis techniques.
- Risk Communication: Effective communication skills to convey complex information about foodborne illnesses, outbreaks, and preventive measures to various stakeholders, including the public, healthcare professionals, policymakers, and the media. Ability to communicate effectively with food service professionals to implement interventions to prevent the spread of foodborne pathogens.
- Collaboration and Teamwork: Ability to work collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams, including public health officials, healthcare providers, laboratory personnel, environmental health specialists, and industry representatives, to respond to outbreaks and implement control measures.
- Emergency Response and Preparedness: Knowledge of emergency response protocols, incident command systems, and crisis management procedures to effectively coordinate response efforts during foodborne illness outbreaks and other public health emergencies.
- Regulatory Compliance: Understanding of food safety regulations, enforcement mechanisms, and regulatory agencies at the local, state, and federal levels. Ability to ensure compliance with food safety standards and regulations to prevent and control outbreaks.
- Analytical Skills: Strong analytical skills to assess risk factors, identify potential sources of contamination, and evaluate the effectiveness of control measures. Ability to critically analyze data and scientific evidence to inform decision-making.
- Problem-Solving and Decision-Making: Ability to identify and address complex challenges associated with foodborne illness outbreaks, including identifying the root causes of outbreaks, prioritizing response activities, and making evidence-based decisions under pressure.
- Continuous Learning and Adaptability: Willingness to stay updated on emerging foodborne pathogens, evolving trends in food production and consumption, and new technologies and methodologies for outbreak detection and response. Adaptability to evolving circumstances and changing regulatory requirements.
Sign up to get involved with CIFOR work now or in the future: https://forms.office.com/r/0KCtk0ymuF.
Being part of a foodborne illness and outbreak response group with networking partners can offer several valuable benefits:
Access to Expertise: NACCHO’s partners bring diverse expertise from various fields such as epidemiology, microbiology, food safety, public health, and regulatory affairs. This collective knowledge can be tapped into for problem-solving, decision-making, and sharing best practices.
Collaborative Opportunities: Collaboration with NACCHO’s partners allows for pooling of resources, sharing of data, and joint efforts in outbreak investigations, research projects, and response activities. This collaborative approach enhances the effectiveness and efficiency of response efforts.
Information Sharing: Get access to up-to-date information, resources, and tools related to foodborne illness surveillance, outbreak detection, and response strategies. This information sharing facilitates timely decision-making and helps in staying informed about emerging threats and trends.
Capacity Building: Participation in CIFOR offers opportunities for professional development, training, and skill-building. Learning from peers, sharing experiences, and attending workshops or conferences organized by both NACCHO and our networking partners contribute to enhancing individual and organizational capacities.
Advocacy and Support: Work with NACCHO partners to collectively advocate for policy changes, resource allocation, and public health initiatives aimed at preventing and mitigating foodborne illness outbreaks. Working together can amplify your voice and influence decision-makers at local, regional, and national levels.
Overall, serving as a NACCHO CIFOR representative alongside our partners, strengthens collective efforts to prevent, detect, and respond to foodborne illness outbreaks, especially at the local level.
Sign up to get involved with CIFOR: https://forms.office.com/r/0KCtk0ymuF.
- Sign up to join a CIFOR Workgroup: The input of our members is invaluable in our goal to create a stronger foodborne illness outbreak response system.
- Sign up to receive updates on new CIFOR resources, funding opportunities, and events.
- Participate in Training and Development: Take advantage of webinars or training opportunities such as the CIFOR Learning Modules.
- Follow us on our social media: Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, Instagram, and Threads
- Complete the form https://forms.office.com/r/0KCtk0ymuF to indicate interest in engaging with CIFOR work now or in the future. NACCHO staff will be in contact if an opportunity arises.
Have questions about CIFOR? Contact us at [email protected].