Building Laboratory-Based Surveillance for Foodborne Diseases in the Western Pacific Region.

Few countries in the western Pacific perform laboratory-based surveillance, even though it is the foundation of foodborne disease outbreak detection and response. The WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) requested that the US Centers for Disease Control, on behalf of WHO Global Salm-Surv, evaluate 1) the need and capacity for hosting WHO Global Salm-Surv training in the Western Pacific region, particularly the Pacific Islands; 2) the current foodborne disease surveillance systems in Fiji Islands and the Philippines; and 3) each country’s capacity for performing Salmonella isolation, identification, and sub-typing.