In June, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CTSE) will vote to decide if it will officially recommend adding Cronobacter sakazakii to the list of nationally notifiable diseases to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
CSTE is an organization of member states and territories representing public health epidemiologists that provides technical advice and assistance to partner organizations and to federal public health agencies such as CDC. The council helps decide which diseases should be monitored nationally.
C. sakazakii has been a focus of federal regulators since the 2022 infant formula crisis precipitated by powdered formula product that was contaminated by the pathogen. For example, in November 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) introduced a prevention strategy for C. sakazakii contamination of powdered infant formula that supports the elevation of C. sakazakii infection among infants as a nationally notifiable disease.
