With thanks to Doug Powell, I am able to report that Web 2.0 has finally extended into Food Safety.
With the recent Norovirus outbreak in the US, Hope College officials informed the Health Department they had a database that contained all of the students email and text messaging addresses. Over three thousand five hundred students were contacted electronically and were asked via text message to reply to an email address to describe their symptoms and how long they were ill. The Health Department says in the end about 540 students responded. Officials say the information was crucial for determining a plan of action and slowing the spread of the virus.
What a way to use student communication to get out a Food Safety Message! The question is: How can this method of communication be expanded to prevent or contain future outbreaks?
1 comments:
Reverse 911 is a system that has been in use in North America for the last several years. It is currently in place to provide hundreds of communities with emergency information in the response to natural disasters, terrorist threats and other homeland security issues. Perhaps the scope of this method could be expanded and adopted by agencies such as the CDC or EPA.
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