Social media (i.e., internet applications and platforms that allow users to create and share content) are a potentially rich data source for foodborne disease surveillance. This commentary qualitatively evaluates social media as a foodborne disease surveillance system component and discusses novel ways that social media may facilitate the detection of intentional and unintentional food contamination.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BalterS, WeissD, HansonH, ReddyV, DasD, HeffernanR. Three years of emergency department gastrointestinal syndromic surveillance in New York City: What have we found?MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 2005; 54:175–180.
2.
BrownsteinJS, FreifeldCC, MadoffL. Digital disease detection—Harnessing the web for public health surveillance. N Engl J Med, 2009; 360:2153–2157.
BuehlerJW, HopkinsRS, OverhageJM, SosinDM, TongV. Framework for evaluating public health surveillance systems for early detection of outbreaks. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 2004; 53:1–11.
[CDC] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Updated guidelines for evaluating public health surveillance systems: Recommendations from the guidelines working group. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 2001; 50,RR-13.
7.
[CDC] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Ongoing multistate outbreak of Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 infections associated with consumption of fresh spinach—United States, September 2006. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep, 2006; 55:1045–1046.
8.
[CDC] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Investigation information for outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium infections, 2008–2009. 2009. http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/typhimurium/. 2011 January 25.
9.
[CDC] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Investigation update: multistate outbreak of human Salmonella enteritidis infections associated with shell eggs. 2011a. http://www.cdc.gov/salmonella/enteritidis/index.html. 2011 January 25.
10.
[CDC] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Foodborne illness surveillance, response, and data systems. 2011b. http://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/surveillance-systems.html. 2011 July 1.
11.
ChewC, EysenbachG. Pandemics in the age of Twitter: Content analysis of Tweets during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak. PLoS ONE, 2010; 5:e14118.
12.
CorleyC, CookD, MiklerA, SinghK. Text and structural data mining of influenza mentions in web and social media. Int J Environ Res Public Health, 2010; 7:596–615.
13.
[CIFOR] Council to Improve Foodborne Outbreak Response. Guidelines for Foodborne Disease Outbreak Response. Atlanta: Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists, 2009.
14.
[ECDPC] European Center for Disease Prevention and Control. Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC): Update on outbreak in the EU (14 July 2011)2011. http://ecdc.europa.eu/en/activities/sciadvice/Lists/ECDC%20Reviews/ECDC_DispForm.aspx?List=512ff74f%2D77d4%2D4ad8%2Db6d6%2Dbf0f23083f30&ID=1150&RootFolder=%2Fen%2Factivities%2Fsciadvice%2FLists%2FECDC%20Reviews. 2011 July 14.
15.
Facebook Press Room. 2011. http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics. 2011 July 14.
HartnettE, PaoliGM, SchaffnerD. Modeling the public health system response to a terrorist event in the food supply. Risk Anal, 2009; 29:1506–1520.
19.
HedbergCW, GreenblattJF, MatyasBT, LemmingsJ, SharpDJ, SkibickiRT, LiangAP. Enteric Disease Investigation Timeline Work Group. Timeliness of enteric disease surveillance in six US states. Emerg Infect Dis, 2008; 14:311–313.
20.
HennessyTW, HedbergCW, SlutskerL, WhiteKW, Besser-WiekJM, MoenME, FeldmanJ, ColemanWW, EdmonsonLM, MacDonaldKL, OsterholmMT. A national outbreak of Salmonella enteritidis infections from ice cream. N Engl J Med, 1996; 334:1281–1286.
21.
HoffmanRE, GreenblattJ, MatyasBT, SharpDJ, EstebanE, HodgeK, LiangA. Capacity of state and territorial health agencies to prevent foodborne illness. Emerg Infect Dis, 2005; 11:11–16.
22.
HowlandJF, ConoverC. Social network as outbreak investigation tool. Emerg Infect Dis, 2011; 17:1765–1766.
23.
HulthA, RydevikG, LindeA, MontgomeryJ. Web queries as a source for syndromic surveillance. PLoS ONE, 2009; 4:e4378.
24.
KhanAS, SwerdlowDL, JuranekDD. Precautions against biological and chemical terrorism directed at food and water supplies. Public Health Rep, 2001; 116:3–14.
25.
LiJ, SmithK, KaehlerD, EverstineK, RoundsJ, HedbergCW. Evaluation of a statewide foodborne illness complaint surveillance system in Minnesota, 2000 through 2006. J Food Prot, 2010; 73:2059–2064.
26.
PavlinJA. Medical surveillance for biological terrorism agents. Hum Ecol Risk Assess, 2005; 11:525–537.
27.
ScallanE, GriffinPM, AnguloFJ, TauxeRV, HoekstraRM. Foodborne illness acquired in the United States—Unspecified agents. Emerg Infect Dis, 2011a. 17:16–22.
28.
ScallanE, HoekstraRM, AnguloFJ, TauxeRV, WiddowsonMA, RoySL, JonesJL, GriffinPM. Foodborne illness acquired in the United States—Major pathogens. Emerg Infect Dis, 2011b. 17:7–15.
29.
SignoriniA, SegreAM, PolgreenPM. The use of Twitter to track levels of disease activity and public concern in the U.S. during the influenza A H1N1 pandemic. PLoS ONE, 2011; 6:e19467.
30.
SobelJ, KhanAS, SwerdlowDL. Threat of a biological terrorist attack on the US food supply: The CDC perspective. Lancet, 2002; 359:874–880.
31.
Stuart ChesterTL, TaylorM, SandhuJ, ForstingS, EllisA, StirlingR, GalanisE. Use of a web forum and an online questionnaire in the detection and investigation of an outbreak. Online J Public Health Inform, 2011; 3:1–7.
32.
WeinLM, LuiY. Analyzing a bioterror attack on the food supply: The case of botulinum toxin in milk. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2005; 102:9984–9989.
33.
WethingtonH, BartlettP. The RUsick2 Foodborne Disease Forum for syndromic surveillance. Emerg Infect Dis, 2004; 10:401–405.