The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] has selected a partnership between Washington State Department of Health (DOH) and the University of Washington (UW) to be one of the nations five Integrated Food Safety Centers of Excellence (CoE).

The Washington center, a joint venture between DOH and the UW School of Public Health, will focus on improving food safety, outbreak response, and reducing the ongoing threat of food-borne illness.

The Washington center will serve Washington, Idaho, Nevada, Hawaii, Alaska, Oregon, California and Guam.

Each year, about 48 million Americans are sickened by foodborne diseases; 128,000 are hospitalized and 3,000 die.

The Centers of Excellence, created in 2012 by the Food Safety Modernization Act, work to identify best practices in foodborne disease surveillance and outbreak response, and support other state and local public health professionals in implementing these practices.