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Better Farming Ontario magazine is published 11 times per year. After each edition is published, we share featured articles online.


Internet searches preceded announcement of outbreak

Monday, May 4, 2009

According to the Calgary Herald, the listeriosis outbreak at Maple Leaf Foods might have been predicted in advance by noticing the number of Internet searches regarding the disease.

An article published in March in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says that the Internet is revolutionizing how intelligence about new and ongoing outbreaks of infectious diseased is gathered.

Researchers from the University of Ottawa and the Harvard Medical School found that searches for the term "listeriosis" spiked nearly a month before the public declaration of the outbreak and media reports about the disease.

An outbreak linked to contamination at a Maple Leaf processing plant in Toronto led to the largest food recall in Canadian history last summer. As many as 20 people died before officials announced the outbreak.

Unfortunately, the number of website "hits" isn't an indication of where the outbreak is taking place. BF
 

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