1. The Case of the Mystery Disease

2.  Public Health Official  Physician  Laboratory Scientist  Field Researcher

3.  The role of public health is to promote and protect the health and safety. This mission is accomplished by:  identifying health risks in the community  maintaining a safe and healthful environment  detecting, investigating, and preventing the spread of disease  promoting healthy lifestyles  providing primary care for individuals with limited access  informing the public on health issues.

4.  Often the first individuals to encounter and report a mysterious disease  They collect information on the symptoms the patient shows and use that information to suggest possible causes.  Physicians also provide personal care to people in the community.  With major disease outbreaks there are frequently a shortage of physicians.

5.  Isolate and examine and characterize bacteria, viruses and other pathogens from samples of the patient's tissues.  They also test for antibodies and what drugs may affect the pathogen.  Scientists study how diseases are transmitted between patients and where diseases originate.  Yield information that is helpful to both physicians and common people to stop diseases from spreading.

6.  Field researchers  interview victims and victim's family members  visit victim's homes  workplaces or other places  They identify similarities among the victims that may help determine what the disease is.

7.  Epidemiology  study of health-event, health-characteristic, or health-determinant patterns in a society.  Cornerstone method of public health research  helps inform policy decisions and evidence-based medicine by identifying risk factors for disease targets for preventive medicine.

8.  Center for Disease Control (CDC)  World Health Organization (WHO)  American Public Health Association (APHA)

9.  Abbreviation: CDC  Protect public health and safety  Partnerships with state health departments and other organizations.  Focuses national attention on:  developing and applying disease prevention and control  environmental health  occupational safety and health  health promotion  injury prevention  education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the United States

10.  Abbreviation: WHO  A specialized agency of the United Nations  One of the original agencies of the United Nations  Acts as a coordinating authority on international public health.  Established on April 7, 1948  Their objective:  "is the attainment by all people of the highest possible level of health."

11.  Abbreviation: APHA  A Washington, D.C. based professional organization for public health professionals in the United States.  Founded in 1872, APHA has more than 30,000 members worldwide.  The Association aims to:  protect all Americans and their communities from preventable, serious health threats  strives to assure that community-based health promotion and disease prevention activities and preventative health services are universally accessible in the United States.

12. Intermission:

13.  Rodent-borne virus with several strains.  Sin Nombre – “The nameless virus”  causes hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS)  Only hantavirus that occurs in the U.S.  Other strains causes hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome.

14.  HPS has only been known to transmit from rodents to humans, not between humans.  People become infected with the virus when urine, feces, or nesting materials of deer mice are stirred up and enter the air to be breathed in.  Infection can also occur through bites from a rodent, or by eating contaminated food.

15.  Symptoms develop 1-5 weeks after exposure to the virus.  Early symptoms fatigue, fever, and muscle aches. Some people also experience headaches, dizziness, chills, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.  Late symptoms appear 4 to 10 days after initial symptoms. coughing and shortness of breath, and the lungs begin to fill with fluid.

16.  Mortality rate of 38%.  Early symptoms resemble flu  There is no specific treatment or cure-