The Michigan Rapid Response Team (MI RRT) has been investigating and controlling outbreaks since 2008 as part of national RRT Program National Perspective involving the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and state agencies. The RRT focuses on early detection, rapid investigation, and outbreak control by improving multi-agency coordination and collaboration.

The MI RRT uses a decentralized organizational structure capable of involving emergency responders from a wide range of agencies and entities. These include:

• • Core Members: FDA Detroit District Office, MDARD, and MDHHS
  • Auxiliary Members: local health departments, industry, academic institutions, and others as needed.

Examples of noteworthy investigations involving the MI RRT

Outbreak of Salmonella enterica serotype Infantis infection in humans linked to dry dog food in the United States and Canada, 2012

This article, published March 1, 2014 in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, describes how the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development detected Salmonella enterica serotype Infantis in an unopened bag of dry dog food collected during routine retail surveillance in April 2012. This detection resulted in not only a recall of that single product, but contributed to an ongoing outbreak investigation and spurred additional testing by multiple agencies, which resulted in subsequent product recalls.  Personnel from the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development are credited as authors in this publication.

Use of traceback methods to confirm the source of a multistate Escherichia coli O157:H7 outbreak due to in-shell hazelnuts

This article, published February 1, 2012 in the Journal of Food Protection, demonstrates how traceback methods were used to rapidly test an epidemiological hypothesis and confirm in-shell hazelnuts as the vehicle in a multi-state E. coli O157:H7 outbreak. Personnel from three RRT cooperative agreement recipients (Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development and California Department of Public Health) are credited as authors in this publication.

Accidental Consumption of Decoquinate Medicated Feed by a Michigan Dairy Herd

This article features the work of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) and their laboratory partners at Michigan State University Diagnostic Center for Population and Animal Health (MSU DCPAH) to respond to accidental consumption of decoquinate by dairy cattle.