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Goals of Outbreak Investigation
•During an outbreak investigation, one typically hopes to determine the following:
•
–Characteristics of the outbreak
•Who is at risk of disease
•What exposures increase risk of disease
•
–Characteristics of the agent
•Source
•Mode of transmission
•
An electron micrograph of the Hepatitis A virus (HAV), an RNA virus that can survive up to a month at room temperature.
Speaking Points

•The main goal of investigating an outbreak is to control further spread of disease, and these data informs the decision of what control and prevention measures to employ

•During an outbreak investigation, one typically hopes to determine the following:

•Characteristics of the outbreak (who is at risk of disease, what exposures increase risk of disease)

•Characteristics of the agent (source, mode of transmission)

•This information is often obtained using a three-pronged approach: epidemiology, laboratory, and environmental assessment

•The image shows an electron micrograph of the Hepatitis A virus (HAV), an RNA virus that can survive up to a month at room temperature