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Prospective space-time analysis of the 2007 cryptosporidiosis outbreak, Salt Lake County, Utah

Description

Cryptosporidiosis is a gastrointestinal illness due to a protozoan parasite that is highly contagious, and resistant to multiple disinfectants. Utah experienced a large, community-wide outbreak of cryptosporidiosis between June and December of 2007. During this time period, the Utah Department of Health received reports of 1,902 laboratory confirmed cryptosporidiosis cases across the state.2 Nearly 40% of these cases occurred in Salt Lake County (SL County), Utah. In past years, SL County averaged fewer than five cases annually; however, the incidence rate in the county for this entire outbreak was 125.9 per 100,000 person–years.

Objective

The objective of this study was to investigate if prospectively applied space-time surveillance could have detected significant, emerging clusters as cryptosporidiosis, cases were reported to the Salt Lake Valley Health Department during the 2007 outbreak.

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