This week, you will conduct an outbreak investigation of a disease.
You are an epidemiologist for your local health department, and you are conducting an outbreak investigation of the disease you chose for this week’s discussion.
- In your role as a health department official, you are interviewing a fictitious patient who has/had this disease. Using research you gathered when completing your discussion assignment, complete this questionnaire
with this fictitious patient’s information to determine clues to the outbreak. - Write a 1- to 2-page paper in which you present a hypothesis on how this outbreak could have been prevented. What prevention techniques have you learned about in the course materials and your discussions with your classmates that could have averted this outbreak?
Your paper must be 3–4 pages in length (including the questionnaire). Include evidence or information from at least two credible external sources and follow APA style for formatting and citation.
Your textbook and supplemental reading material may be used as a reference. The APA format for your text is as follows:
Nelson, K. E. (2014). Infectious disease epidemiology (3rd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones and Bartlett Learning.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2011). Principles of epidemiology in public health practice: Self-study course (3rd ed.). Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Expert Solution Preview
Introduction:
As a medical professor, I understand the importance of conducting outbreak investigations. In this assignment, students are required to conduct an outbreak investigation of a disease and present a hypothesis on how this outbreak could have been prevented. In order to complete this task, students will interview a fictitious patient, use research gathered, and discuss prevention techniques from course materials.
Answer 1:
As a health department official, interviewing a patient with a disease is crucial to determine clues to the outbreak. With the information gathered from the patient questionnaire, it was identified that multiple individuals had contracted the disease after visiting a particular restaurant. It was also noted that all the affected individuals had consumed the same dish. Therefore, it can be hypothesized that the outbreak was caused by consuming contaminated food at the restaurant.
Answer 2:
The outbreak could have been prevented by implementing proper food safety measures at the restaurant. Prevention techniques like proper hand washing, cleaning and sanitizing of kitchen equipment, and proper food storage and handling can prevent contamination of food. The restaurant can also take measures like screening their staff members for illness before allowing them to work, ensuring all staff members are trained in food safety, and having regular food safety inspections. By implementing these measures, the restaurant can ensure that the food served to its customers is safe and prevent such outbreaks from occurring in the future.
