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Jagger Meredith

Oregon’s statewide syndromic surveillance system (Oregon ESSENCE) has been operational since 2012. Non-federal emergency department data (and several of their associated urgent care centers) are the primary source for the system, although other data sources have been added, including de-identified call data from OPC in 2016. OPHD epidemiologists have experience monitoring mass gatherings and have a strong relationship with OPC, collaborating on a regular basis for routine and heightened public health surveillance. Nevertheless, surveillance for the Great American Solar Eclipse (August 2017) presented a challenge due to the 107 reported simultaneous statewide eclipse-watching events planned for the day of the eclipse (some with estimated attendance of greater than 30,000 people and most in rural or frontier regions of the state). Scientific literature is limited on mass gathering surveillance in the developed world, particularly in rural settings, so OPC and OPHD worked together to develop a list of health conditions of interest, including some that would warrant both an ED visit and a call to OPC (e.g., snake bites). Monitoring visits in both data sources in would allow for assessment of total burden on the healthcare system, especially in the case of snake bites where only specific bites require administration of anti-venom.

Objective:

Identify surveillance priorities for emergency department (ED) and Oregon Poison Center (OPC) data ahead of the 2017 Great American Solar Eclipse gatherings in Oregon and create a suite of queries for use in the Health Intelligence Section of the Oregon Public Health Division (OPHD) Incident Management Team (IMT).

Submitted by elamb on

The Great American Solar Eclipse of 2017 provided a rare opportunity to view a complete solar eclipse on the American mainland. Much of Oregon was in the path of totality and forecasted to have clear skies. Ahead of the event, OPHD aggregated a list of 107 known gatherings in mostly rural areas across the state, some with estimated attendance of up to 30,000 attendees. Temporary food vendors and a range of sanitation solutions (including open latrines) were planned. International travelers were expected, along with large numbers of visitors traveling by car on the day of the eclipse. The potential for multiple simultaneous mass gatherings across the state prompted OPHD to activate an incident management team (IMT) and to create a Health Intelligence Section to design a mass gathering surveillance strategy. Statewide syndromic surveillance (Oregon ESSENCE) has been used to monitor previous mass gatherings (1) and captures statewide emergency department (ED), urgent care, Oregon Poison Center, and reportable disease data.

Objective:

Develop a public health surveillance plan for the Oregon Public Health Division (OPHD) in anticipation of the expected influx of visitors for the 2017 Great American Solar Eclipse.

Submitted by elamb on

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) consist of colonies of prokaryotic photosynthetic bacteria algae that can produce harmful toxins. The toxins produced by HABs are considered a One Health issue. HABs can occur in all types of water (fresh, brackish, and salt water) and are composed of cyanobacteria or microalgae. As the climate changes, so do many of the factors that contribute to the growth of HABs, which in turn, can increase the incidence of HAB-related illness in humans. There are three main pathways that HAB toxins can affect human health: dermal, gastrointestinal (GI), and neurological. Swimming in or consuming contaminated water and eating contaminated shellfish are ways to develop HAB-related illnesses. Contact with cells from a bloom while recreating can cause a rash on the body. Most commonly, HAB-related illnesses present with GI symptoms that resemble food poisoning and can affect the liver. Rarely, HABs that produce cyanotoxins can present with neurological symptoms. Issuing and lifting freshwater HAB advisories is within the preview of the Environmental Public Health section at the Oregon Public Health Division. However, most water bodies in the state are not monitored. Because of this, syndromic surveillance was considered as a potentially useful source of HAB exposure information, and the Oregon ESSENCE team was asked to develop a query to help monitor HAB-related complaints.

Objective:

Use ESSENCE to create a sustainable process for identifying ED and urgent care visits that may be related to harmful algal bloom exposure in Oregon.

Submitted by elamb on

In general, data from public health surveillance can be used for short- and long-term planning and response through retrospective data analysis of trends over time or specific events. Combining health outcome data (e.g., hospitalizations or deaths) with environmental and socio-demographic information also provides a more complete picture of most vulnerable populations. Using syndromic surveillance systems for climate and health surveillance offers the unique opportunity to help quantify and track in near-real time the burden of disease from climate and weather impacts.

Submitted by uysz on

The 2016 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials were held July 1-10 in Eugene, OR. This mass gathering included over 1,000 athletes, 1,500 volunteers, and 175,000 spectators. The Oregon Public Health Division (PHD) and Lane County Public Health (LCPH) participated in pre-event planning and collaborated to produce a daily epidemiology report for the Incident Management Team (IMT) during the event. The state and county public health agencies had collaborated on surveillance for prior mass gatherings, including the 2012 Trials. However, 2016 was the first opportunity to use complete state and county syndromic surveillance data. 

Objective

To streamline production of a daily epidemiology report including syndromic surveillance, notifiable disease, and outbreak data during a mass gathering. 

Submitted by Magou on
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