Science and Our Food Supply: Investigating Food Safety from Farm to Table

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86

MIDDLE LEVEL

Pathogen Identified

1. 

Between November 8 and December 8, 1994, 21 people 

experiencing symptoms (nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, 

cramps, and fever) go to the doctor. 

2. 

Doctors make an initial diagnosis, and stool cultures from 

the patients are sent to a clinical laboratory. 

3. 

At the lab, medical tests are done on the stool cultures. 

The lab determines the presence of the Shigella bacterium. 

4. 

An isolate of the bacterial culture is sent to the state health 

department lab for further testing. 

5. 

The health department sends the results to the Bureau of 

Infectious Disease Control in Suffolk County.