The Disease Investigation team at Auckland Regional Public Health Service is responsible for investigating food diseases. It deals with a wide range of diseases such as Campylobacter, Salmonella and Hepatitis A, Shigella, VTEC (E.coli) infection, Typhoid, Listeriosis and Gastroenteritis relating to contaminated foods. These are generally alerted to us by General Practitioners. We also investigate suspected food borne illnesses reported by the public. Our role is to identify the source of the illness and prevent it from spreading further.

When we are alerted to an outbreak or a notifiable disease (PDF, 125.17 KB), our first response is to interview the cases by phone or in person. From this we are able to establish the likely source and pathogen by comparing the nature of the symptoms and the incubation period. Outbreak cases may be required to produce faecal and food specimens for analysis.

When a food premise is implicated, a verbal risk assessment is preformed. If the food premise is a probable source we then carry out a thorough food premise assessment at the site.

To notify us of a food borne illness, please phone our office on (09) 623 4600 and ask for the duty officer for the Disease Investigation Team.

For information on notifiable diseases please visit the Ministry of Health's Notifiable Diseases web page.

For information on Food Borne Illness visit the links below:

• New Zealand Food Safety Authority 
• World Health Organization
• US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention