Food, Daycare and Environmental Lead Compliance Services . . .
Investigate food-borne illness in conjuntion with epidemiology staff

Sometimes bacteria, viruses or parasites hitch a ride on food and are eaten by humans. This might happen when a food worker with an infected cut on his hand handles ready-to-eat food, or when a worker touches raw meat and then handles ready-to-eat food. When these contaminated foods are eaten, the biological agents on them may make a person ill.

Usually foodborne illnesses are accompanied by vomitting and/or diarrhea. These symptoms may last only 24 hours, or they may become severe and lead to hospitalization, or in extreme cases, death. Foodborne illnesses are usually more severe in young children, the elderly and anyone with a compromised immune system.

Hospitals are required to report certain illnesses to the health department's epidemiology office. Epidemiologists study the type of illnesses in the community and how often they occur.

When they receive an illness report, epidemiologists interview patients in order to uncover the source of the illness. If the patient works in the food service industry, the epidemiology staff will notify the health department's food inspection staff so they can look for other ill food handlers. If the patient has eaten at a food establishment during the 72 hours before becoming ill, the food inspection staff will inspect the suspect food establishment for unsafe food or food-handling practices.

To protect public health in our community, it is important that you notify the health department if you experience sudden gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomitting or diarrhea. Health department staff can quickly investigate to determine the source of your illness and potentially prevent others from becoming ill as well.

To report a sudden gastrointestinal illness, call the epidemiology staff at (417) 864-1678 or (417) 864-1582.

Springfield-Greene County Health Department 227 East Chestnut Expressway Springfield, MO 65802 (417) 864-1658 * (417) 864-1099 fax Email questions or comments to the Webmaster.