Looking ahead

In its first five years, C-EnterNet has generated reliable data from its first sentinel site community, the Region of Waterloo, Ontario. The data on human enteric disease caused by pathogens in water, agriculture and retail food serve as a benchmark for ongoing monitoring of trends in pathogen movement, behaviour, prevalence and impact.

The surveillance system has grown with the addition of the second sentinel site in the Fraser Health Authority in British Columbia. More exhaustive and systematic information based on laboratory findings will enable improvements of source attribution methods and generate estimates for accurate source attribution.

At the local level, enhanced epidemiological data help public health units to respond more effectively and efficiently to public health threats. Provincially and federally, accurate surveillance and source attribution data are available to inform policy, as well as to evaluate food and water safety programs and intervention strategies.

C-EnterNet is based on a multi-jurisdictional framework that relies on collaboration with public health partners at all levels of government, industry, commodity groups, and other stakeholders within each sentinel area. Through rigorous science and commitment to innovation, this framework offers the potential to break new ground to reduce the burden of enteric disease in Canada. In the future, this uniquely integrated structure could also be used to reduce the burden of other diseases.

Commitment to communication

C-EnterNet's communication mandate includes the sharing of results with local, provincial and federal public health partners as well as with key stakeholders in the agriculture, retail food and water sectors. Published papers and reports are presented to:

• local councils and committees that recommend operational policies to the local public health units within the sentinel sites;
• provincial ministries of health, environment and agriculture;
• federal organizations, including Health Canada's Food Directorate and its Healthy Environments and Consumer Safety Branch, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).

Information is made available through bi-annual newsletters and annual reports. The newsletter covers subjects such as innovations in epidemiology and related learning opportunities. It also includes highlights of surveillance studies carried out with public health partners throughout the world.

The annual reports include detailed summaries of infection rates and pathogen levels in the potential sources. In future years, the report will include source attribution results once more data are available for these analyses.