Our Office of Infectious Disease Services has released their 2015 Infectious Disease Outbreak Summary Report, documenting outbreak detection, response, and reporting throughout Arizona. An outbreak is an unexpected increase in the number of people with the same disease at the same time or in the same place.

The public health response to outbreaks is a team effort, utilizing knowledge, skills, and input from epidemiologists, laboratorians, public health nurses, communicable disease investigators, sanitarians, and more. The 2015 outbreak report summarizes outbreak data contributed by ADHS staff and our county and tribal public health partners who are on the front lines of outbreak response.

This year’s report features an updated, fresh, reader-friendly format with easy navigation and clear definitions of terms. Like previous years’ outbreak reports, the 2015 outbreak report provides a high-level view of outbreak information, such as outbreak size, method of identification, and number of outbreaks in each county. The report also includes in-depth summaries by disease category and outbreak setting. New for the report includes summaries of four notable outbreaks that occurred during 2015.

Read more about infectious disease outbreak investigation and management by visiting our website. Find out more about reporting outbreaks by contacting your local health department.