About FDA
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Environmental Microbiology and Foodbourne Outbreaks
Description: This program conducts microbiological work to enhance Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) and other novel preventive controls for reducing pathogen contamination of high risk produce commodities such as tomatoes, cantaloupes, and leafy greens. The program also helps to pinpoint important reservoirs of environmental contamination, thereby enhancing preventive controls and reducing time needed to conduct field investigations to identify sources of human illness. This program component is critical to FSMA mandates on the establishment of science-based rules and guidelines for the produce industry. The program provides the laboratory science necessary for the Centers regulatory, policy, and compliance and enforcement programs for fresh-cut produce microbiology. This program specifically identifies environmental and farm management risks and practices leading to the internal contamination of produce cultivated for the US food supply. Collectively this work will lead to better and more specific enhanced regional produce safety guidance and safer, ready-to-eat vegetables and fruits.
| Milestone Description | Milestone Date | Milestone Status | Milestone Completion Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Conduct DelMarVA Peninsula Salmonella Follow-up Studies and Metadata Analyses |
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| i. Complete follow-up sampling study of high-production fruits such as watermelon including watermelon farm production environments |
3/31/2022 |
Completed | 3/31/2022 |
| ii. Complete metadata analysis of Virginia Eastern shore longitudinal environmental Salmonella study including |
3/31/2024 (12/31/2022) |
On Track | |
| iii. Identify unique adaptive changes among Salmonella Newport 61 associated with long-term persistence in surface waters and enhanced infiltration and internalization into tomato fruits in the field |
12/31/2023 |
Completed | 9/15/2023 |
| B. Conduct Pennsylvania Watershed Salmonella Index Study for Salmonella Baseline Prevalence in Mid-Atlantic Region Surface Waters |
6/30/2024 |
Completed | 3/31/2023 |
| i. Complete 3-year longitudinal sampling study of Pennsylvania surface waters including the Susquehanna River and other Chesapeake Bay watershed tributaries for Salmonella prevalence and diversity |
12/31/2023 |
Completed | 3/31/2023 |
| ii. Assign source attribution, if any, of regional feral wildlife and agricultural animal production to most prevalent Salmonella serovars in PA surface waters. |
6/30/2024 |
Completed | 3/31/2023 |
| iii. Determine antibiotic resistance profiles among most prominent Salmonellae associated with surface waters. |
12/31/2023 |
Completed | 3/31/2023 |
| iv. Ascertain any significant adaptive changes that enhance persistence of specific Salmonellae in regional surface waters and adjacent agricultural animal industries. |
12/31/2023 |
Canceled | |
| v. Ascertain whole genome sequences for all isolates collected from the study and add to the GenomeTrakr WGS database for enhanced surveillance and environmental linkages to potential unknown clinical illness clusters. |
6/30/2024 (12/31/2023) |
Completed | 3/31/2023 |
| C. Conduct Pennsylvania Listeria monocytogenes Pome Fruit Environmental Study in Collaboration with Pennsylvania State University |
12/31/2022 |
Completed | 3/31/2023 |
| i. Complete 3-year longitudinal sampling study of Pennsylvania pome fruit orchards (ie., apples and pears) for prevalence and diversity of Listeria monocytogenes (Lm) in the pome fruit orchard environment. |
12/31/2020 |
Completed | 9/30/2020 |
| ii. Establish incidence of most predominant and fit serotypes of Lm in surface waters on and around the orchard environment. |
12/31/2020 |
Completed | 9/30/2020 |
| iii. Determine seasonal or temporal fluctuations occur in the incidence and prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in the pome fruit orchard growing environment. |
12/31/2020 |
Completed | 9/30/2020 |
| iv. Evaluate Lm persistence and infiltration of mature pome fruit through blossom contamination in the orchard. |
12/31/2020 |
Canceled | |
| v. Complete 3-year longitudinal sampling study of pome fruit processing (ie., apples and pears) facilities for prevalence and diversity of Listeria monocytogenes in the pome fruit processing environment. |
12/31/2020 |
Completed | 9/30/2020 |
| vi. Evaluate various biocide treatments on control of harborage of Lm in specific production facility niches (ie roller brushes, belts, etc.). |
12/31/2022 |
Completed | 3/31/2023 |
| vii. Provide recommendations to pome fruit growers for novel and/or improved agricultural practices related to minimizing risk of Lm during growth and harvesting of apples, pears, and other commodities. |
6/30/2021 |
Completed | 9/30/2020 |
| viii. Provide series of recommendations to pome fruit processors for novel and/or improved processing and sanitation practices related to minimizing risk of Lm harborage and spread into specific facility niches. |
6/30/2022 |
Completed | 9/30/2020 |
| ix. Ascertain whole genome sequences for all isolates collected from the Pennsylvania pome fruit study and add to the GenomeTrakr WGS database. |
12/31/2020 |
Completed | 9/30/2020 |
| D. Conduct Georgia Listeria monocytogenes Stone Fruit Environmental Study in Collaboration with University of Georgia |
12/31/2024 (12/31/2023) |
On Track | |
| i. Complete 3-year longitudinal sampling study of Georgia stone fruit orchards (ie., peaches) for prevalence and diversity of Listeria monocytogenes in the stone fruit orchard environment. |
12/31/2024 (12/31/2023) |
On Track | |
| ii. Establish incidence of most predominant and fit serotypes of Lm in surface waters on and around the orchard environment. |
12/31/2024 (12/31/2023) |
On Track | |
| iii. Determine whether any seasonal or temporal fluctuations occur in the incidence and prevalence of Listeria monocytogenes in the stone fruit orchard growing environment. |
12/31/2024 (12/31/2023) |
On Track | |
| iv. Evaluate the likelihood of Lm persistence and infiltration of mature stone fruit through blossom contamination in the orchard. |
12/31/2024 (12/31/2023) |
Canceled | |
| v. Complete 3-year longitudinal sampling study of stone fruit processing (ie., peaches) facilities for prevalence and diversity of Listeria monocytogenes in the stone fruit processing environment. |
12/31/2024 (12/31/2023) |
On Track | |
| vi. Evaluate various biocide treatments on control of harborage of Lm in specific production facility niches (i.e. roller brushes, belts, etc.). |
12/31/2023 |
Canceled | |
| vii. Provide recommendations to stone fruit growers for novel and/or improved agricultural practices related to minimizing risk of Lm during growth and harvesting of peaches, and other stone fruit commodities. |
12/31/2024 (12/31/2023) |
Not Yet Started | |
| viii. Provide recommendations to stone fruit processors for novel and/or improved processing and sanitation practices related to minimizing risk of Lm harborage and spread into specific facility niches. |
12/31/2024 (12/31/2023) |
Not Yet Started | |
| ix. Ascertain whole genome sequences for all isolates collected from the Georgia stone fruit study and add to the GenomeTrakr WGS database. |
12/31/2024 (12/31/2023) |
On Track | |
| E. Conduct International Longitudinal Environmental Surveys of Surface Waters for Salmonella in collaboration with FDA Center of Excellence at the Univeristy of Maryland (JIFSAN) |
6/30/2024 |
On Track | |
| i. Conduct Salmonella longitudinal sampling study of South American surface waters in high produce production regions. |
6/30/2024 |
On Track | |
| ii. Conduct Salmonella longitudinal sampling study of North American surface waters proximal to high produce production regions. |
6/30/2024 |
On Track |
Key Projects Legend
| Milestone Status | Definition |
|---|---|
| Not Yet Started | Work for specific milestone has not yet been started. |
| Completed | Milestone and/or overall project is completed. |
| On Track | Milestone - On track for completion by milestone deadline. Quarter status - Project is on track for completion based on overall milestone status. |
| On Hold | Milestone - On hold, but deadline for completion has not passed. Quarter status - Project is on hold, based on overall milestone status. |
| Delayed | Milestone - Delayed as it has not been completed and deadline has passed. Quarter status - Project is delayed based on overall milestone status. |
