Multiple shellfish outbreak investigations occurred in Canada between 2015 and 2022 involving oysters and spot prawns. This seminar will include an overview of notable shellfish outbreaks from the perspective of both provincial (British Columbia) and federal public health partners, and will describe the actions taken to prevent, mitigate, and manage similar outbreaks in the future.

Lorraine McIntyre received her BSc from UBC (1987) and MPH from University Hertfordshire, UK (2005). She joined BCCDC’s provincial laboratory in 1993, supervising and coordinating water, food and gastroenteritis outbreaks and implemented BCCDC’s first molecular norovirus diagnostic testing method in 2001. She transferred to Environmental Health where she has led several multi-stakeholder groups to explore issues and create guidance on a range of topics. Currently she chairs a national group on fermented foods, participates in an Indigenous shellfish research project called WATCH, and is excited to be co-investigator on a microbial source tracking project beginning in 2024 called GEMSTONE.

Hannah Caird is an Epidemiologist at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC), focusing on enteric diseases while also providing support to the zoonotic and vectorborne disease portfolios. She initially joined BCCDC to support the COVID-19 response as a Data Analyst before transitioning to a COVID-19 epidemiologist. Hannah holds a Masters of Public Health with a concentration in Population Health from Simon Fraser University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Victoria.

Jennifer Liang is an Epidemiologist with the Outbreak Management Division at the Public Health Agency of Canada, working on detecting and responding to multi-jurisdictional enteric outbreaks. She has also worked as a Public Health Officer on COVID-19 response with the Canadian Public Health Service. Jennifer completed a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Queen’s University.