biology

Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System

Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System rather than just read about it. In short: The Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Surveillance System (WBDOSS) is a national surveillance system maintained by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Key takeaways

Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Surveillance System (WBDOSS) is a national surveillance system maintained by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The WBDOSS receives data about waterborne disease outbreaks and single cases of waterborne diseases of public health importance (for example, Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM)) in the United States and then disseminates information about these diseases, outbreaks, and their causes. WBDOSS was initiated in 1971 by CDC, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Data are reported by public health departments in individual states, territories, and the Freely Associated States (composed of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau; formerly parts of the U.S.-administered Trust Territories of the Pacific Islands). Although initially designed to collect data about drinking water outbreaks in the United States, WBDOSS now includes outbreaks associated with recreational water, as well as outbreaks associated with water that is not intended for drinking (non-recreational) and water for which the intended use is unknown.

Definition of a Waterborne Disease Outbreak Waterborne disease outbreaks may be associated with recreational water, water intended for drinking, water not intended for drinking (non-recreational water, for example, from cooling towers or ornamental fountains) and water of unknown intent. In order for a waterborne disease outbreak to be included in WBDOSS there must be an epidemiologic link between two or more persons that includes a location of water exposure, a clearly defined time period for the water exposure, and one or more waterborne illnesses caused by pathogens such as bacteria, parasites and viruses, or by chemicals/toxins. Common routes of exposure to waterborne pathogens include swallowing contaminated water, inhaling water droplets or airborne chemicals from the water, and direct physical contact with contaminated water. Epidemiologic evidence must implicate water or volatile compounds from the water that have entered the air as the probable source of the illness. WBDOSS outbreaks are further evaluated and classified based on the strength of evidence in the outbreak report that implicates water as the source of the outbreak. Waterborne disease outbreaks that have both strong epidemiologic data and comprehensive water-quality testing data are assigned a higher class than outbreaks with weak epidemiologic data and little or no water-quality testing data.

Data Sources for WBDOSS Public health departments investigate waterborne disease outbreaks in states, territories, and Freely Associated States and are essential contributors to the WBDOSS. The primary reporting tool for WBDOSS prior to 2009 was the CDC 52.12 waterborne disease outbreak reporting form. Beginning in 2009, this form was replaced by the electronic National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS). Secondary data sources include case reports of water-associated cases of PAM caused by Naegleria fowleri infections, case reports for chemical/toxin poisoning and wound infections (reported sporadically), data about recreational water-associated Vibrio cases from the Cholera and Other Vibrio Surveillance System, and case reports for pool chemical-related health events not associated with recreational water (reported sporadically.

Data Use CDC has published WBDOSS surveillance summaries on an annual or biennial basis since 1971. Summary statistics and descriptions of waterborne disease outbreaks were published in CDC reports until 1984 and have been published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) since 1985. Public health researchers and policy makers use the data to understand and reduce waterborne disease and outbreaks. WBDOSS data are available to support EPA efforts to improve drinking water quality and to provide direction for CDC’s recreational water activities, such as the Healthy Swimming program.

See also National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS)

References

External links Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Surveillance System (WBDOSS) Healthy Swimming at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about swimming and recreational water-related information Healthy Water at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists OutbreakNet Team at the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System

In research: Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public health in the United States, Water treatment, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System in simple terms?

The Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Surveillance System (WBDOSS) is a national surveillance system maintained by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Why does Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Reporting System.