We've been working with a system we call PulseNet, which is basically a virtual laboratory spread across the country. For about 10 years, we have been gradually improving it and expanding its scope. We began with E. coli 0157:H7 and then moved on to salmonella, because the vast majority of food-borne illnesses are related to them.
Listeria is kind of a latecomer. We've been working on it for about three years. And that's why not all laboratories across the country were certified. We had Quebec certified, we had the Health Canada lab in Ottawa certified, and we were certified. But CFIA had not yet been certified, and none of the other provinces had been certified.
In spring of 2008, we developed a plan with the CFIA to get them certified. They are now certified, so they no longer have to send samples to Dr. Farber's lab. Ontario and Alberta are now certified as well, and other provinces are showing interest. So those are some very positive things.
The Canadian Network for Canadian Health Intelligence is a very sophisticated communications and alerting tool that allows real-time dissemination of public health information, based on the need to know, right to the front lines of the public health system.
For the National Microbiology Laboratory, we were able to deal with the increased testing demand during the outbreak quite well, but our staff were working overtime and weekends. We had to drag in equipment from other programs. Since that time, we've expanded the amount of equipment we have, and we've cross-trained more people and certified them. So we now have a bigger pool of people to draw on.
Those are a few of the things we've done since the outbreak.