
By Diane Carman For Alicia Cronquist and fellow epidemiologists at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the recent listeria outbreak creates plenty of made-for-TV drama. The investigation under way is part CSI, part House, all with far greater urgency and complexity than any fictional drama could begin to depict. The timing of the listeria outbreak coinciding with the deadly outbreak of a previously unknown strain of E. coli in Europe has brought the work of epidemiological investigators into sharp focus this week. The United Nations News Service reported that as of Monday 22 people had died and more…