Email - Lab

^{Current State Health Department Reporting and Testing Practices}

for Campylobacter and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC)

Attachment L

Introductory email to state health laboratories

Dear Dr. X,

I am Team Lead of the National Enteric Reference Laboratory at the Enteric Diseases Laboratory Branch at CDC. We are looking to update our national picture of the capacity and testing practices at state public health laboratories for Campylobacter and Shiga toxin-producing E. coli (STEC). We are reaching out to all state public health laboratories in the US to gather this information. I wasn’t sure who the best point of contact would be in your state, so if this should be directed to someone else, please let me know. The Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch at CDC is simultaneously sending out an epidemiology module to all state public health departments to gather information on epidemiologic surveillance capacity for Campylobacter and STEC in your state.

We have designed an online questionnaire using SurveyMonkey that contains 24 questions regarding current testing practices for Campylobacter and STEC in your state. I have attached below a link to the module which should take 15-20 minutes. In addition to updating our knowledge of Campylobacter and STEC testing practices at the state level, we will summarize the responses from all contacted health laboratories and send that out in a final report.

Many thanks in advance for your assistance and please don't hesitate to contact me with any questions, Collette Fitzgerald, PhD

^{Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases,}

National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

1600 Clifton Road NE MS-C-03, Atlanta, GA30329

Office: (404) 639-0838

Email: chf3@cdc.gov