Risk Communication:  Epidemiology

Epidemiology is part of medical science that deals with the origin and spread of disease in a population. It is an important tool to control outbreaks, such as the Covid-19 pandemic. Epidemiology can be applied to any form of human illness and provides useful information to prevent spread of disease. Food safety benefits from epidemiological analysis to determine the origin of a food safety outbreak and the source of contaminants in the food chain. While epidemiology is a mature science, recent molecular methods are providing more detailed information than previously. These are providing a much greater depth of understanding that is enabling new control measures to assist in controlling food safety.