Health Services Emergency Management
Outbreak Management
An outbreak can be:
- cases of an illness or another health-related issue in an area that is greater that usual (e.g., norovirus)
- a single case of a communicable disease long absent from a population (e.g., polio), or
- a first case of a disease that requires immediate response (e.g., West Nile virus).
It's important to manage outbreaks. The principles we follow are:
- All suspected outbreaks will be responded to immediately.
- Upon confirmation of an outbreak, it will be investigated immediately and an outbreak management plan developed.
- During and following an outbreak, appropriate intervention and education will be provided.
- All appropriate agencies will be kept informed of the status of the outbreak.
- An outbreak report will be completed and appropriate debriefing will follow.
For more information, please see the Communicable Disease Control
Manual.