Strengthening surveillance ofand response to foodborne diseases Introductory manual Strengthening surveillance of and response to foodborne diseases: introductory manual This publication updates the document published in 2017 entitled “Strengthening surveillance of andresponse to foodborne diseases: introductory module”. ISBN 978-92-4-011724-2 (electronic version)ISBN 978-92-4-011747-1 (print version) © World Health Organization 2025 Some rights reserved. This work is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO licence (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo). Under the terms of this licence, you may copy, redistribute and adapt the work for non-commercialpurposes, provided the work is appropriately cited, as indicated below. In any use of this work, thereshould be no suggestion that WHO endorses any specific organization, products or services. The useof the WHO logo is not permitted. If you adapt the work, then you must license your work under thesame or equivalent Creative Commons licence. If you create a translation of this work, you shouldadd the following disclaimer along with the suggested citation: “This translation was not created bythe World Health Organization (WHO). WHO is not responsible for the content or accuracy of thistranslation. The original English edition shall be the binding and authentic edition”. Any mediation relating to disputes arising under the licence shall be conducted in accordance withthe mediation rules of the World Intellectual Property Organization(http://www.wipo.int/amc/en/mediation/rules/). Suggested citation.Strengthening surveillance of and response to foodborne diseases: introductorymanual. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2025. Licence:CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. Cataloguing-in-Publication (CIP) data.CIP data are available athttps://iris.who.int/. Sales, rights and licensing.To purchase WHO publications, seehttps://www.who.int/publications/book-orders. To submit requests for commercial use and querieson rights and licensing, seehttps://www.who.int/copyright. Third-party materials.If you wish to reuse material from this work that is attributed to a third party,such as tables, figures or images, it is your responsibility to determine whether permission is neededfor that reuse and to obtain permission from the copyright holder. The risk of claims resulting frominfringement of any third-party-owned component in the work rests solely with the user. General disclaimers.The designations employed and the presentation of the material in thispublication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of WHO concerningthe legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning thedelimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Dotted and dashed lines on maps represent approximateborder lines for which there may not yet be full agreement. The mention of specific companies or of certain manufacturers’ products does not imply that theyare endorsed or recommended by WHO in preference to others of a similar nature that are notmentioned. Errors and omissions excepted, the names of proprietary products are distinguished byinitial capital letters. All reasonable precautions have been taken by WHO to verify the information contained in thispublication. However, the published material is being distributed without warranty of any kind, eitherexpressed or implied. The responsibility for the interpretation and use of the material lies with thereader. In no event shall WHO be liable for damages arising from its use. Contents Acknowledgements v Methods vii Abbreviationsix What’s newin this set of manualsx 1.Introduction1 1.1What are foodborne diseases?21.2 Why are surveillance of and response to foodbornediseases important?21.3Purpose of this manual61.4Scope of the manual71.5Target audience101.6Guiding principles111.7Terminology16 2.Frameworkfor strengthening surveillanceof and response to foodborne diseases 2.1Strategic goals are outlined for each of the three stages202.2Link with the IHR (2005) food safety indicator24 3.Structureof this set of manuals273.1How to use this manual30 References 33 Annex 1:Glossary of terms used in this manual37 Annex 2:Explanation of risk-related terms used in this manual Annex 3:Country self-assessment Acknowledgements The World Health Organization (WHO) would like to thank the many individualswho contributed to the development of this manual. This manual was prepared by Carmen Savelli (WHO Nutrition and Food SafetyDepartment), with review by and contributions from the WHO Alliance for FoodSafety’s working group on foodborne disease surveillance, which was co-chairedby Intisar Salim Al Gharibi (Oman Food Safety and Quality Centre, Oman) andYahya Kandeh (Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Zambia). Members of the working group on foodborne disease surveillance included: AmareAyalew (African Union