By knowing the ongoing pattern of disease occurrence and disease potential, a health department can effectively and efficiently investigate, prevent, and control disease in its community. An effective disease surveillance program systematically collects, analyzes, interprets, and disseminates health data on an ongoing basis. It is a quantitative science in which probability, statistics, and sound research methods are used. Epidemiology is a method of causal reasoning based on developing and testing hypotheses pertaining to occurrence and prevention of morbidity and mortality. It is the basic tool used in public health to promote and protect the health of a community and is essential for carrying out public health surveillance, disease investigation, analytic studies, and program evaluation.
Epidemiology is based in science and a dose of practical common sense.
Information Many files on this site require the Adobe Acrobat Reader. You may Download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader here. The News contains information about a new mumps IgM test that is available at the Texas Department of Health laboratory. Information on how to report VPDs are available in Reporting . The latest numbers for measles, mumps, and other VPDs in Texas can be found in Statewide Statistics .