...PulseNet, a national computer net-work of public health laboratories that will help rapidly identify and stop episodes of foodborne illness, is up and running. The new system enables epidemiologists to move up to 5 times faster than previously feasible in identifying serious and widespread food contamination problems. PulseNet is the latest feature of the Clinton administration’s initiative to improve food safety and detect foodborne disease. PulseNet is based on a molecular technology called pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE), standardized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that identifies distinctive "fingerprint patterns" of E. coli O157:H7. Under the new net-worked computer system, public health laboratories throughout the country can share information via the Internet to determine when foodborne disease outbreaks are occurring. The PFGE technology was first used by CDC in a foodborne illness outbreak in 1993, but lack of computer net-working prevented the rapid response that is possible today.

...Boeing, IBM, First Chicago NBD Corporation, and Johnson & Johnson are winners in the second annual Corporate Health Achievement Award (CHAA) competition sponsored by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The 1998 CHAA winners were recognized as the Nation’s healthiest companies. The CHAA was created to provide national recognition and honor to companies that have superior employee health, safety, and environmental management programs. It also is intended to encourage corporate self-assessment and continuous improvement and to call attention to the importance of such initiatives.