Smallpox
Outbreak Control Activities and Strategies
Epidemiologic
Investigation
During
the initial phases of an outbreak, the goal of your investigations
will be to establish the diagnosis, identify contacts, identify
the source of exposure, and ascertain if there are any unusual
features of the outbreak. As the outbreak progresses, we will also
need to monitor the progress made in containing the outbreak and
we will need to be prepared to change and adjust our outbreak control
strategy. In both stages, public health agencies must be prepared
to effectively communicate information about the outbreak and the
control strategies to the public, the medical community, and the
media.
Steps for the
Epidemiologic Investigation
- Identify
source of initial introduction(s)
- Identify
contacts and other population(s) at risk
- Characterize
and define outbreak. This includes identifying unusual/unexpected
features and determining the scope of the outbreak.
- Monitor effectiveness
of control measures.
- Communicate
information and define public health recommendations
Contact Tracing
Contact Tracing
will need to be one quickly and efficiently so that the surveillance
and containment strategy works. We have 3 days in which to vaccinate
people who have been exposed to the smallpox virus, in order to
prevent disease or at least limit the severity of their disease.
The goal of contact tracing is to find as many contacts as possible.
The first step
of contact tracing is establishing contact with patient after onset
of fever. Prioritize potential contacts based on closeness, length,
and date of exposure. The highest priority contacts are people
who live full-time in home and other face-to-face contacts after
onset of fever. The next priority contacts are non face-to-face
contacts exposed in a medical care facility or in home. The last
priority contacts are people in same facility after onset of fever
(other than home or hospital) but without face-to-face contact.
If there are too many to find quickly, consider all people in same
room (or possibly facility) with smallpox case after onset of fever
as contacts.
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