792: States Assist McDonald’s E. coli Outbreak, Latest National Youth Tobacco Survey

JANSON SILVERS: 

This is the award-winning Public Health Review Morning Edition for Friday, November 15, 2024. I'm Janson Silvers. Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

RACHEL JERVIS: 

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment observed a rapid increase in the number of reported cases of this type of E coli, and this was more than we expected, so, it prompted an immediate investigation.

SILVERS: 

Colorado was one of the first states to see an E. coli case stemming from McDonald's Quarter Pounder meals. When the first cases came in, the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment got to work. Rachel Jervis, along with her team at the Department of Public Health and Environment, were instrumental in identifying where these cases were coming from.

JERVIS: 

Because of the prompt and high quality interviewing that our local public health partners in Colorado, as well as our centralized enteric disease interview team did when we notified CDC that we had a suspected outbreak, even before we had lab results, we were able to tell them that we were seeing signals pointing towards fast food hamburgers.

SILVERS: 

Jarvis says, normally, in 2024 outbreaks like this are solved through a lot of technology, but this time, it was primarily through talking to people.

JERVIS: 

So, in some ways, this was a bit of, kind of an old-school outbreak investigation for us that we started with the traditional 'epi' methods of interviewing and then used the technology of the lab of the whole genome sequencing to solve it.

SILVERS: 

Jarvis says her advice for other public health departments is to create and maintain strong relationships throughout your state.

JERVIS: 

This outbreak response was a really strong collaboration between our local public health agencies in Colorado and us at the State Health Department, and we couldn't have detected it and responded to it without the help of 50 plus public health agencies.

SILVERS: 

Jarvis was quoted in a recent CNN article about the outbreak and response. That link is in the show notes.

Results from the National Youth Tobacco Survey were released earlier this fall and they give a snapshot of tobacco use behaviors in middle and high school-aged youth across the country. ASTHO's Joshua Berry says, two top line findings stick out.

JOSH BERRY: 

The first is that past 30-day e-cigarette use continues to decline amongst that group of school-aged youth in the United States. And then also, we're starting to see the emergence of tobacco pouch products and their popularity amongst young people in this country.

SILVERS: 

Barry says e-cigarette use is declining because we already have a playbook that we know works from combustible cigarettes. This includes more targeted ads tailored to youth about the dangers of e-cigarettes, as well as...

BERRY: 

There are more clean indoor air protections, inclusive of e-cigarettes at the state and local level, than in years past, and we're also seeing more and more from the state level, additional pricing policies that make the cost of those products more expensive to consumers.

SILVERS: 

As tobacco pouch products begin to emerge as a favorite, Barry says targeted education campaigns could also be helpful.

BERRY: 

Campaigns that identify the young people who are at greatest risk and are most likely to be interested in using those nicotine pouch products, and we can reach them with messaging that resonates to them and also communicates the unique risks and harms of using those nicotine products.

SILVERS: 

Learn more by reading the most recent National Youth Tobacco Survey, we have the link in the show notes.

Also today, a reminder that now the Public Health Infrastructure Grant has its own newsletter. Important information, like deadlines, events, resources, and opportunities are all included. A link to sign up is in the show notes.

Finally, this morning, an ASTHO brief takes you through lessons learned from the Data Roadmap for Racial Equity Advancement in Maternal and Child Health learning community, also known as the DREAM learning community. Eleven state health departments participated and are sharing what they know. Use the link in the show notes to learn more.

That'll do it for today. We're back on Monday morning with more ASTHO news and information. I'm Janson Silvers. You're listening to the award winning Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.