Early detection of water-related disease outbreaks

Abstract

Large-scale disease outbreaks are not instantaneous disasters like earthquakes or plane crashes. Contamination often continues for days or weeks, incubation periods vary, and there may be secondary transmission of the disease organism from primary cases by means other than water. Water-related outbreaks generally evolve slowly enough that early detection of the increasing number of cases would allow the application of useful preventive and curative measures. Prompt investigation and correction of treatment plant problems, the early introduction of a general “boil water” alert to consumers, or alerting physicians to the presence of an outbreak could all help reduce case numbers by hundreds or..