Surge in communicable diseases, funding shortages threaten public’s health

Germ that causes tuberculosis

If you’ve followed the Public Health Insider, you know that we’ve seen a surge of communicable disease outbreaks in places like schools, health care facilities, jails and restaurants. And those are just the most visible ones. As the local health department, it’s our mission and legal responsibility to track down and stop over 50 communicable diseases in […]

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Norovirus outbreak investigation in downtown Seattle building (UPDATED)

UPDATE 12/9/15 This morning, our food protection program staff re-inspected all of the food establishments in the building and cleared them to re-open. We are requiring the food establishments and building management to use a daily cleaning and sanitation log for the next 14 days. We are not collecting more data on the magnitude of the outbreak at this point. […]

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Multistate foodborne outbreak investigation, illustrated

With the current E. coli outbreak unfolding in Washington and Oregon, it’s timely that the CDC has come out with a new report on multi-state foodborne outbreaks. The report lays out what can be done to better investigate these outbreaks and prevent them, whether you’re the local health department, a food producer, or a consumer. […]

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