[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 195 (Tuesday, October 9, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Page 61406]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-24757]



[[Page 61406]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

[30Day-12-12PK]


Agency Forms Undergoing Paperwork Reduction Act Review

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a 
list of information collection requests under review by the Office of 
Management and Budget (OMB) in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction 
Act (44 U.S.C. Chapter 35). To request a copy of these requests, call 
(404) 639-7570 or send an email to [email protected]. Send written comments 
to CDC Desk Officer, Office of Management and Budget, Washington, DC 
20503 or by fax to (202) 395-5806. Written comments should be received 
within 30 days of this notice.

Proposed Project

    Standardized National Hypothesis Generating Questionnaire--New--
National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Background and Brief Description

    It is estimated that each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans get sick, 
128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die of foodborne diseases. CDC and 
partners ensure rapid and coordinated surveillance, detection, and 
response to multistate outbreaks, to limit the number of illnesses, and 
to learn how to prevent similar outbreaks from happening in the future.
    Conducting interviews during the initial hypothesis-generating 
phase of multistate foodborne disease outbreaks presents numerous 
challenges. In the U.S. there is not a standard, national form or data 
collection system for illnesses caused by many enteric pathogens. Data 
elements for hypothesis generation must be developed and agreed upon 
for each investigation. This process can take several days to weeks and 
may cause interviews to occur long after a person becomes ill.
    CDC requests OMB approval to collect standardized information, 
called the Standardized National Hypothesis-Generating Questionnaire, 
from individuals who have become ill during a multistate foodborne 
disease event. Since the questionnaire is designed to be administered 
by public health officials as part of multistate hypothesis-generating 
interview activities, this questionnaire is not expected to entail 
significant burden to respondents.
    The Standardized National Hypothesis-Generating Core Elements 
Project was established with the goal to define a core set of data 
elements to be used for hypothesis generation during multistate 
foodborne investigations. These elements represent the minimum set of 
information that should be available for all outbreak-associated cases 
identified during hypothesis generation. The core elements would ensure 
that similar exposures would be ascertained across many jurisdictions, 
allowing for rapid pooling of data to improve the timeliness of 
hypothesis-generating analyses and shorten the time to pinpoint how and 
where contamination events occur.
    The Standardized National Hypothesis Generating Questionnaire was 
designed as a data collection tool for the core elements, to be used 
when a multistate cluster of enteric disease infections is identified. 
The questionnaire is designed to be administered over the phone by 
public health officials to collect core elements data from case-
patients or their proxies. Both the content of the questionnaire (the 
core elements) and the format were developed through a series of 
working groups comprised of local, state, and federal public health 
partners.
    Burden hours are calculated by approximately 4,000 individuals 
identified during the hypothesis-generating phase of outbreak 
investigations x 45 minutes/response. There are no costs to respondents 
other than their time. The total estimated annualized burden is 3,000 
hours.

                                        Estimated Annualized Burden Hours
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                   Number of     Average  burden
         Type of respondents                 Form name            Number of      responses per    per  response
                                                                 respondents       respondent        (in hrs)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ill individuals identified as part    Standardized National             4,000                1            45/60
 of an outbreak investigation.         Hypothesis Generating
                                       Questionnaire (Core
                                       Elements).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Dated: October 2, 2012.
Ron A. Otten,
Director, Office of Scientific Integrity (OSI), Office of the Associate 
Director for Science, Office of the Directors, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 2012-24757 Filed 10-5-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4163-18-P