Team Diarrhea to the rescue
A group of public health graduate students from the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) with the dubious title of ‘Team Diarrhea’ played an instrumental role in finding the sources the U.S.’s two most recent major salmonella outbreaks – in peanuts earlier this year and in jalapeño peppers (previously blamed on tomatoes) in 2008.
It’s not a glamorous role. Looking the part of everyday telemarketers, the Team Diarrhea or Team D players work in a giant cubicle, asking people questions about their food poisoning symptoms.
But it’s a role that is highly important. By rapidly discovering the source of a food poisoning outbreak, continued exposure can be minimized, thus saving people from severe illness, and possible death.
You can find out more about their role in this interesting Scientific American article.
