It may be the height of summer vacation season here in Newtown, but local Health District staffers remain busy monitoring several local and national health concerns.Clean - Wash your hands and surfaces often. Germs can survive in many places around your kitchen, including your hands, utensils, and cutting boards.Separate - Raw meat, poultry, seafood, and eggs can spread germs to ready-to-eat foods - unless you keep them separate. It is important to keep them separate, even after you have cleaned your hands and surfaces thoroughly.Cook - Cook to the right temperature. While many people think they can tell when food is "done" simply by checking its color and texture, there is no way to be sure it is safe without following a few important but simple steps. Use a food thermometer to ensure that foods are cooked to a safe internal temperature: 145°F for whole meats (allowing the meat to rest for three minutes before carving or consuming), 160°F for ground meats, and 165°F for all poultry.Chill - Keep your refrigerator below 40°F and refrigerate foods properly. Germs can grow in many foods within two hours unless you refrigerate them. And during the summer, cut that time down to one hour.foodsafety.gov.Mosquito ReductionVolunteers Wanted

A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) pegged Connecticut for having the highest incidence of foodborne illness in New England for a ten-year period ending in 2015.

A Connecticut Health I-Team analysis of the report stated that norovirus, salmonella, and E. coli were the top three illness-causing offenders in Connecticut, with outbreaks most commonly linked to contaminated foods prepared at restaurants and in private homes, and, to a lesser degree, at banquet facilities and caterers.

"Besides nourishment, food brings us together and most often in a happy, social way," points out Health District Director Donna Culbert. "So when we learn that Connecticut has the distinction of having the highest reported incidence of foodborne illness outbreaks I would call that 'good bad news' - the fact that Connecticut has higher reporting means we have better reporting.

"I guardedly say that we, the local Health District communities of Newtown, Bridgewater, and Roxbury, are fortunate that we have not experienced foodborne illness outbreaks; however, we do have residents who have experienced foodborne illness, and we take that very seriously."

Food safety is accomplished at many levels, according to the local health official. Food production, manufacture, and distribution/transport are primarily regulated at the federal and state level.

"But locally, we work to ensure that the establishments that sell food and/or prepare and serve food are safe," Ms Culbert said. "We license and inspect and educate."

The Health District regulates temporary events, as well. Its staff, including food service inspector Suzette LeBlanc, works hard to ensure local events like fairs and any kind of gathering that is offering food, but not held in licensed facility, is safe.

"We also work to help educate the consumer and empower them to protect themselves with their food practices," Ms Culbert said.

With that in mind, the Health District offers the following four-step process for minimizing food safety risk:

For more information on preventing food poisoning, visit

The Newtown Health District also wants to highlight local efforts needed for mosquito reduction.

"While no cases of mosquito-borne Zika infections have been logged in Connecticut yet, the type of mosquitoes responsible for transmitting the virus are - so reducing their numbers and potential future risk is critically important," Ms Culbert warned.

"Now that we finally got some rain, residents need to do their part in helping to reduce the number of mosquitoes that could potentially live and breed here," she said.

The Health District is asking home and business owners to be vigilant and walk around their property and dump any standing water they may find.

"Mosquitoes require very little water to survive and reproduce," she said. "Pay attention to and regularly flush bird baths, wading pools, pets' water bowls, planters, any and all water holding containers that you do use."

The health official explained that since mosquitoes lay eggs in standing water, residents could limit the number of places around their home for mosquitoes to breed by getting rid of items that hold water and are not being used for that purpose.

Turning the focus to tickborne illness, the Newtown Health District is looking for volunteers to participate in focus groups for tickborne disease prevention messaging .

The town has contracted with a media marketing firm in an effort to better understand the public's perception and behavior regarding tick bites and tickborne disease, and ultimately to implement ways to influence people's attitudes and behavior.

"Survey work and key informant interviews have been completed and now we are in the additional information gathering and focus group work phase," Ms Culbert said. "We need volunteers for focus groups."

The focus group sessions will take approximately 90 minutes, and there is no studying or preparation required. Participants are asked to share thoughts and opinions regarding prevention messaging.

"An attempt to organize a group in July was unsuccessful due to vacation schedules, but the Health District is anticipating scheduling two separate sessions in September," Ms Culbert said.

Any interested parties are encouraged to call the Health District offices at 203-270-4291.