Category: Disease Investigation

Public Health: Are We Too Slow?

Meat thermometer and raw chicken breast

  One of the many roles of public health is to protect consumers from threats like foodborne outbreaks. Much of this hinges on quickly getting out clear messages to the public that provide simple steps to help stem the spread of disease. This is something public health professionals have been doing for over a hundred Read More >

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Plague Inc.

James Vaughan, founder of Ndemic Creations, spoke to CDC staff on March 20, 2013 about his new mobile app, Plague Inc.  Within the game, players select a pathogen and strategize how to evolve symptoms, transmit the disease, and counter actions taken by world governments and scientists. With a successful disease, players can watch as governments Read More >

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Public Health Spotlight: Matt McDaniel

MRC Shelby County Dispensing Exercise

By: Diana Yassanye Workers from the county health department calmly walk door to door putting little bags into mailboxes as they move through the quiet suburban neighborhood. In less than two hours, the team has delivered those bags to 1500 mailboxes, nearly 4500 residents.  In each bag is a bottle of antibiotics that provides protection Read More >

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How to Apply Your 5k Training to a Disease Outbreak

Runners leaving start line during a race

  By Jeff Eggert It is another beautiful Denver morning. The sun is shining, and Canadian geese are honking in 40 degree weather. A large crowd has begun to gather in the center of a park, huddled around hot coffee and warm bagels while yellow-vested volunteers quickly triage individuals in the crowd towards the appropriate Read More >

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Outbreak Investigation: Meningitis

CDC scientist looks through microscope at fungus displayed on screen

One Case Sparks National Action Imagine… A patient goes to the doctor for a routine steroid injection.   A couple weeks later, the patient feels sick – headache, fever and suddenly uncomfortable in bright light.  Within days, the patient is admitted to the local hospital’s intensive care unit.  Doctors discover that the patient has a life-threatening Read More >

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Disease Detection: Laboratories on the front lines

Microsopic view of anthrax spores

You can’t respond to threats if you don’t know what they are, which is one reason that laboratories play such an important role in public health. Public health laboratories have helped detect all kinds of threats to the public’s health; including anthrax, monkey pox, novel flu viruses, and foodborne disease outbreaks caused by germs like Read More >

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