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

The Foodborne Diseases Centers for Outbreak Response Enhancement (FoodCORE)began as a CDC funded pilot project in 2009 in three sites to improve state and local health department responses to foodborne disease outbreaks. It was so successful that the project currently funds 10 sites, encompassing approximately 18% 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.

RESP-NET

Learn more about COVID-NET, FluSurv-NET and RSV-NET Surveillance.

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

HPV is the primary cause of cervical cancer. It has also been shown to be responsible for several other cancers as well, causing significant morbidity and mortality. In 2006, the FDA licensed a quadrivalent vaccine that protects against four types of HPV (6, 11, 16, 18). HPV types 16 and 18 are responsible for approximately 70% of cervical cancers. HPV types 6 and 11 are the main cause of genital warts. In 2014, a nine-valent vaccine became available. In addition to the four types of HPV that were covered in the quadrivalent vaccine, the nine-valent vaccine protects against five additional cancer-causing types of HPV (31, 33, 45, 52, 58) that are associated with another 20% of cervical cancers. In 2008, HPV-IMPACT began collecting data to study the impact of HPV vaccination on high-grade cervical lesions (HGCLs). HGCLs are pre-cancerous lesions that can develop into cancer if not detected and treated in time. In addition, HPV-IMPACT collects data on invasive cervical cancer in collaboration with the Connecticut Tumor Registry.

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.