Guidelines for investigation and control of food borne diseases.

These guidelines are meant to assist health workers in conducting surveillance, investigation and control of appropriate interventions in relation to the quality and safety of food for the purpose of protecting the public from health hazards associated with the consumption of food.
The Guidelines make an in depth analysis of the causes of food-borne diseases and their transmission and regulate the routine surveillance and the detection of foodborne diseases outbreaks. The text further provides for the various phases of investigations of food-borne diseases outbreak, including the epidemiological investigations, the environmental and food investigations and the laboratory investigations.
The Guidelines also set indications regarding the data analysis and their interpretation, the keeping of records, the confidentiality and the control measures, which include the closure of food premises and the control of transmission.
The text further set guidance on the food-borne diseases reporting, on the coordination of the various food-borne diseases functions, on the review of an outbreak when the same is over, on studies and research which may be conducted after completion of the initial investigations, particularly if new or unusual pathogens were involved or additional information for risk assessment of a particular pathogen is required.