12 



their foreign processors operate on the basis of HACCP controls. 

 The harmonization of international approaches to regulating sea- 

 food safety through HACCP offers the dual benefit of aiding the 

 U.S. industry to compete in the global economy and to assure inter- 

 national cooperation on hazard intervention strategies applied to 

 all sea foods. 



Mr. Chairman, that completes my formal testimony. Time does 

 not allow me to go into our activities related with the States, some 

 of our cooperative programs, research and consumer education. 

 However, I would be happy to answer any questions you might 

 have. 



[The statement of Mr. Billy can be found at the end of the hear- 



Mr. Manton. Thank you, Mr. Billy. We have inserted your full 

 testimony in the record, and I am sure that there will be some 

 questions from the members that will elicit some of the answers 

 that you might not have — or some of the subjects you might not 

 have touched. 



Our next witness. Dr. Paul Blake, Acting Chief of the Foodborne 

 and Diarrheal Diseases Branch, National Center for Infectious Dis- 



STATEMENT OF PAUL BLAKE, DIRECTOR, ENTERIC DISEASES 

 BRANCH, NATIONAL CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASES 



Dr. Blake. Thank you. I am Dr. Paul Blake, Acting Chief of the 

 Foodborne and Diarrheal Diseases Branch of the National Center 

 for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

 I am pleased to respond to the Subcommittee's invitation to discuss 

 seafood-borne disease surveillance and CDC's role in preventing 

 foodborne disease and characterizing foodborne hazards. 



Foodborne disease is an ever changing public health challenge 

 and can be called an emerging infectious disease. Recently the In- 

 stitute of Medicine issued a report called "Emerging Infections," 

 which identifies factors such as changes in human behavior, tech- 

 nologic advances, and microbial adaptation that lead to emergence 

 of microbial threats. Each of these factors has affected the safety of 

 our food supply. 



I will provide the executive summary of the Institute of Medicine 

 report for your consideration for inclusion in the record. 



Epidemiologic data are necessary in order to design focused risk- 

 management strategies for seafood-associated diseases. CDC's ac- 

 tivities in identifying and characterizing foodborne hazards fall 

 into five categories. First is the foodborne disease outbreak surveil- 

 lance system; second, investigations of outbreaks; third, studies of 

 specific foodborne diseases; fourth, laboratory-based surveillance of 

 specific foodborne microorganisms, such as salmonella; and fifth, 

 laboratory studies of foodborne microorganisms that may be sub- 

 mitted by the States and acquired through investigation. 



The foodborne disease outbreak surveillance system, the first of 

 these, collects and analyzes data on outbreaks provided to us by 

 State health departments. Although the system has been useful, it 

 has many limitations which are often not considered when talking 

 about the data. First, the reported outbreaks represent only a 



