Detection of Walkerton Gastroenteritis Outbreak Using Syndromic Surveillance of Emergency Room Records

In May 2000 accidental contamination of the water supply led to an outbreak of severe gastroenteritis in Walkerton Ontario, Canada. Of 1346 cases associated with exposure to Walkerton water, 65 were admitted to hospital, 27 developed Hemolytic-Uremic Syndrome, and six died. Estimates that 42% of cases were unreported indicate that the actual number of cases was likely 2321.

Objective

This abstract reports preliminary results of a retrospective study of the effectives of ER syndromic surveillance in detecting this outbreak.