CONTACT: Jim Sliwa, ASM Communications
(202) 942-9297
[email protected]
FOODBORNE DISEASE CONFERENCE SCHEDULED FOR
MARCH 1997
On March 24-26, 1997, the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), in cooperation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration, and in collaboration with other organizations, will host a conference on emerging foodborne pathogens. The conference will take place at the Radisson Plaza Hotel, Mark Center, in Alexandria, Virginia.
The control of infectious diseases has surfaced as a major health concern in recent years. In the area of foodborne infectious diseases, the industry and regulatory agencies have been responding to the emergence of new foodborne threats to human health and reemergence of known diseases from previously unimplicated foods. The pattern of response has been primarly reactive, although a few proactive measures have shown promise.
The conference has been developed expressly to allow industry and regulatory agencies to work together to review lessons learned and knowledge gained concerning food-related microbial threats to health, identify factors that contribute to foodborne outbreaks, identify strategies to address emerging foodborne pathogens, and identify future research needs. It is expected to attract food protection and public health professionals (including microbiologists, epidemiologists, physicians and health policy makers); industry, academic and government researchers; and others interested in microbial food safety hazards.
The importance of this conference is particularly timely in light of recent foodborne outbreaks such as one associated with tainted apple cider in the Pacific Northwest. On January 25, 1997, President Clinton sent a memo to the USDA, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency requesting that they "work with consumers, producers, industry, States, universities and the public to identify additional ways to improve the safety of our food supply through government and private sector action, including public-private partnerships. Your recommendations should identify steps to further improve surveillance, inspections, research, risk assessment, education and coordination among local, State and Federal health authorities."
As a supporting organization of this conference, the American Society for Microbiology will run a full-service press room in the hotel for the conference. Programs, abstracts and summaries of selected presentations will be available. Press registration for the conference will be complimentary.
Additional information and preliminary programs will be available in advance of the conference. If you wish to receive any of this information please contact the ASM Office of Communications, (202) 942-9297, e-mail: [email protected].
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