We rely on law enforcement to prevent and deal with criminal acts, but when those acts pose a threat to health, we rely on the public health system. Just as our military must keep up a defense against new weapons development, so our public health system, which has been taken for granted, must maintain a defense against new diseases and new ways they are manifested. How Local Health Departments Address Disease Outbreaks Disease surveillance capabilities are critical to early detection of a release of a biological agent, as well as to early detection of infectious disease outbreaks due to unintentional causes. When people get sick, they seek care from their doctor or a hospital. Disease surveillance is a fundamental function of public health at the local, state and federal levels.
Surveillance is our early warning system that something is wrong.
In order to participate effectively in disease surveillance and response, local health departments must be able to send and receive information quickly to and from local doctors and hospitals, to and from health departments in neighboring jurisdictions, to and from the state health department, and to and from CDC in Atlanta. The local health department does the work on the ground, such as tracking down who has been exposed to a disease, sometimes obtaining laboratory specimens for accurate diagnosis, and taking whatever measures are necessary to prevent further spread. The local health department also is responsible for giving accurate and timely information to the media and the community. Every day, local health departments face outbreaks of illness caused by salmonella, E. Coli bacteria, the hepatitis A virus, meningococcal bacteria, and a frightening array of new antibiotic-resistant bacteria. None of these diseases respects political boundaries every local public health agency must be well prepared to share information about suspicious incidents of disease, deal with outbreaks and communicate about them to its neighbors.