According to the CDC, multistate outbreaks of foodborne illnesses are often the most deadly—and are also the most difficult to trace. When a widely-distributed product sickens dozens in a small town in Arizona, it could take weeks for folks in Chicago to realize that they, too, are consuming food that might make them ill. PulseNet uses real-time reporting to facilitate communication between the nearly 3,000 local, state and federal agencies working to prevent illnesses like these.
A new study on PulseNet offers a glimpse into just how powerful wide-ranging surveillance data can be. According to the economic evaluation published in The American Journal of Preventive Medicine, PulseNet annually prevents a quarter million illnesses and saves half a billion dollars in medical costs and lost worker productivity.
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