Use of case studies to introduce undergraduate students to principles of food microbiology, molecular biology, and epidemiology of food-borne disease.

Mock outbreaks of infectious disease offer the ability to introduce principles of food microbiology, ecology, and epidemiology to undergraduate students using an inquiry driven process. Students were presented with an epidemiological case study detailing patient history, clinical presentation, and foods recently consumed. The students then had to form hypotheses about the causative agents and attempt to identify the vehicle of transmission from foods their patient consumed. Students applied biochemical testing protocols to explore bacterial metabolism that are used to identify pathogens. After biochemically identifying their case's causative agent, the students were introduced to rapid methods that are used by health departments. Students extracted DNA, performed PCR reactions to amplify the 16s rDNA gene and identified it by comparing the PCR product sequence to a database using BLAST. Rapid methods, which do not employ time-consuming culturing methods, are increasingly being used; this exercise ensures that students have the technical skills necessary to compete in an increasingly technological global market.