Applied Epi Exercise #5: Polka Dance Outbreak

Learning objectives:

After completing this case study, students should be able to:

• Explain what constitutes a foodborne illness outbreak.
• Describe the steps in a foodborne illness outbreak investigation.
• List different outbreak investigation team members and their roles and responsibilities.
• Establish and apply an outbreak case definition.
• Describe outbreak-associated cases by time, person, and place.
• Create and interpret an epidemic curve.
• Describe the types of epidemiological studies used during an outbreak investigation.
• Calculate and interpret measures of association.
• Describe the purpose of conducting an environmental assessment.
• Define and give examples of contributing factors.
• Explain how to summarize and share outbreak investigation findings.

Required Reading:

• Gordis, Chapter 2

Instructions:

• Download Applied Epi Exercise #5: Polka Dance Outbreak HERE.
• Enter YOUR answers in CANVAS by 2:30pm on Wednesday November 18.  We recommend downloading/printing your answers prior to submitting your answers to CANVAS.
• • Appendix A.pdfSupplemental materials: 
  • Appendix B.pdf
  • Appendix C.pdf
  • Appendix D.pdf

Optional Exercise - EpiInfo Oswego Outbreak

There are several tutorials in EpiInfo, a program developed by the CDC to assist in outbreak workup. You may download it free from the "resources" tab on the course home page.

The first one is about working up an outbreak of diarrhea following a church supper in Oswego, New York. If you are interested in using EpiInfo, and/or would like more experience with working up an outbreak - this is for you!

• To use the tutorial, open EpiInfo (that you have downloaded and installed on your computer - see "Resources")
• Go to "Help" at the top of the page, choose "Tutorials", then "Oswego Tutorial".
• Have fun!

Optional reading

• Epidemic line listing tutorial - University of North Carolina School of Public Health
• Epidemic curves tutorial - University of North Carolina School of Public Health
• "Trackback" studies in outbreak investigation- How to trace and understand where an agent may have come from and where it might be distributed
• Laboratory Diagnosis - an overview to using the laboratory in outbreak investigation 
• Collecting specimens in outbreak investigations
• Molecular laboratory diagnostic methods in outbreak investigation
• Laboratory diagnosis in outbreak investigation - examples