Lab Matters Summer 2018 | Page 56

APHL 2018 Annual Meeting Poster Abstracts

Food Safety

Food Safety

Increased Use of ‘ Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response ’ Products through Branding and Messaging

S . Shea 1 , L . Granen 1 , R . Atkinson-Dunn 2 ; 1 Association of Public Health Laboratories , Silver Spring , MD , 2 Utah State Public Health Laboratory , Taylorsville , UT

The Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response ( CIFOR ) was founded in 2006 . The Council is a multidisciplinary collaboration of national associations and federal agencies working together to improve methods for detecting , investigating , controlling and preventing foodborne disease outbreaks . APHL is a founding member of CIFOR and our representatives have contributed to CIFOR guidelines , processes and products that facilitate improved foodborne outbreak response . CIFOR is one of the only entities with representation across the entire spectrum of organizations , jurisdictions , geographies and professions that focuses on foodborne outbreak response . With other member organizations , we collectively represent epidemiology programs , environmental health programs , public health laboratories and regulatory agencies at the local , state and federal levels . The food industry is represented on the Industry Workgroup . All of these audiences are considered when creating CIFOR promotional materials . Although CIFOR guidelines , processes and products are widely available , the member organizations recognize a need to increase the use of these tools nationwide . The Promote Development Team , one of 4 core development teams within CIFOR , is tasked with promoting the use of CIFOR products and promoting CIFOR as a credible source of information for use by decision-makers . In 2017 , The Promote Development Team created a CIFOR Marketing Plan to ensure consistency in our branding and messaging , coordinate marketing communications , be proactive in building awareness of the overall CIFOR mission / vision and innovatively market CIFOR . Activities include , building a new CIFOR website , designing branded templates for CIFOR documents and presentations , providing suggested web content for member organizations , disseminating end-user testimonials on the impact of CIFOR , distributing canned social media , blog , newsletter and email content on CIFOR and its products , presenting about CIFOR at annual meetings and conferences and launching a CIFOR app . Examples of these activities are highlighted in this poster .

Presenters : Shari Shea , MHS , MT ( ASCP ), Association of Public Health Laboratories , Silver Spring , MD , Phone : 240.485.2777 , Email : sharon . shea @ aphl . org and Robyn Atkinson-Dunn , PhD , HCLD / PHLD , Utah Public Health Laboratory , Taylorsville , UT , Phone : 801.965.2424 , Email : rmatkinson @ utah . gov

Using Whole Genome Sequencing Data for Salmonella Serotype Prediction

A . Stewart , Texas Department of State Health Services , Austin , TX

Texas Department of State Health Services ( DSHS ) Laboratory Service Section typically receives 3,000 – 3,500 Salmonella isolates each year . Currently , the laboratory performs serotyping on all Salmonella isolates received using molecular or conventional serotyping techniques , which are time consuming and costly . Since 2015 , DSHS has been performing whole genome sequencing

( WGS ) on foodborne bacteria and thus generating an enormous amount of sequencing data waiting to be fully utilized . The free SeqSero software allows identification of Salmonella serotypes from raw sequencing reads . To determine the utility of using SeqSero to predict Salmonella serotype , we are performing a retrospective study comparing SeqSero analysis with our standard serotyping methods . SeqSero will be used to infer the serotypes from a pool of 2,300 Salmonella isolates sequenced in the lab between 2015 and 2017 . The isolates we selected for this study are from PFGE clusters / potential outbreaks . These isolates were collected from routine Salmonella surveillance activities of food / food manufacture swabs . We predict a high concordance between SeqSero prediction and our standard methods . The raw sequence reads will be analyzed using the FDA / CFSAN GalaxyTrakr software . GalaxyTrakr utilizes the open-source Galaxy platform as a packaging tool , GUI and integrates SeqSero and other analysis tools to host a runtime environment for bioinformatics projects . The analysis is performed on the GalaxtTrakr . org website . This project is on-going . Our preliminary results indicated a good concordance between SeqSero and our standard methods . We will expand our study to include up to 800 isolates and will present a final report with complete information at the APHL Annual Conference . For the isolates which produce discrepancies between SeqSero and standard methods , we will examine the results to understand the limitations of SeqSero based serotype determination . The DSHS laboratory hopes to replace our current serotyping methods and implement routine sequencing of Salmonella isolates with WGS . This study will confirm the practicality of using SeqSero in serotype prediction and help establish criteria for when Seqsero should not be utilized for prediction . Using SeqSero for serotyping will shorten the total test time , reduce labor and cost and make outbreak investigation more efficient .

Presenter : Alesha Stewart , PhD , APHL / CDC ARLN Fellow , Texas Department of State Health Services , Austin , TX , Phone : 512.776.7591 , Email : alesha . stewart @ dshs . texas . gov

Laboratory Confirmation of Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli Detected by Culture-Independent Diagnostic Tests — Minnesota , 2015 – 2017

R . Fowler 1 , D . Boxrud 2 , E . Cebelinski 2 , S . Vetter 2 ; 1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , Atlanta , GA , 2 Minnesota Public Health Laboratory , St . Paul , MN

Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli ( ETEC ) is a common cause of travelers ’ diarrhea and can cause foodborne disease outbreaks . Historically , clinical laboratories have not tested for ETEC because diagnostic methods were not available . Increasingly , diagnostic testing is shifting from culture-based methods to cultureindependent diagnostic tests ( CIDTs ), which can detect ETEC . However , molecular and culture confirmation is imperative for public health surveillance and identification of ETEC outbreaks ; ETEC is a reportable pathogen in Minnesota , requiring clinical laboratories to submit isolates or clinical samples . To improve ETEC laboratory surveillance , we confirmed ETEC in CIDT-positive samples and measured the association between ETEC confirmation and duration of sample transport . During 2015 – 2017 , Minnesota Public Health Laboratory ( MN-PHL ) received 263 fecal samples positive for ETEC by the CIDT , FilmArray ® GI Panel ( Biofire Diagnostics ), 7 days after collection . Among the 97 samples selected for ETEC isolation , 62 ( 64 %) were positive . ETEC PCR and culture confirmation rates were low for ETEC-positive CIDT samples and were dependent on the