Outbreak

For other uses, see Outbreak (disambiguation).

In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease in a particular time and place. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire continent. Two linked cases of a rare infectious disease may be sufficient to constitute an outbreak. Outbreaks may also refer to epidemics, which affect a region in a country or a group of countries, or pandemics, which describe global disease outbreaks.

Outbreak investigation

When investigating disease outbreaks, the epidemiology profession has developed a number of widely accepted steps. As described by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, these include the following:[1]

Outbreak debriefing and review has also been recognized as an additional final step and iterative process by the Public Health Agency of Canada.[2]

Types

There are several outbreak patterns, which can be useful in identifying the transmission method or source, and predicting the future rate of infection. Each has a distinctive epidemic curve, or histogram of case infections and deaths.[3]

Outbreaks can also be:

Patterns of occurrence are:

Outbreak legislation

Outbreak legislation is still in its infancy and not many countries have had a direct and complete set of the provisions.[8][9] However, some countries do manage the outbreaks using relevant acts, such as public health law.[10]

See also

References

  1. Steps of an Outbreak Investigation, EXCITE | Epidemiology in the Classroom | Outbreak Steps
  2. Public Health Agency of Canada. "Canada’s Food-borne Illness Outbreak Response Protocol (FIORP) 2010: To guide a multi-jurisdictional response". Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  3. Archived March 19, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. Glossary of Epidemiology Terms, Cdc.gov (2007-04-25). Retrieved on 2010-11-25.
  5. Glossary of Epidemiology Terms. Cdc.gov (2007-04-25). Retrieved on 2010-11-25.
  6. Glossary of Epidemiology Terms. Cdc.gov (2007-04-25). Retrieved on 2010-11-25.
  7. Archived September 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.
  8. "Bioterrorism Training and Curriculum Development Program". Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  9. Star Publications. "‘Outbreak actions protected by law’". Retrieved 2 August 2008.
  10. The State of Queensland Government. "Legislation and Powers of Entry". Retrieved 2 August 2008.

External links

Look up outbreak in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
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