Assignment instructions

“Periodically states consider additions, modifications, or deletions to their list of reportable conditions. Criteria and justifications for adding a disease vary. For example, a health agency may justify the addition of a new disease to its list by its need to:

1. take a public health action as necessary / appropriate (particularly if disease occurrence or distribution changes)
2. establish baseline incidence data if a new intervention is on the horizon
3. learn more about the epidemiology of and natural history / spectrum of illness of a new disease (e.g., AIDS and E coli O157:H7)”

–Public Health Surveillance in New York City – Then and Now. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Epidemiology Program Office, Case Studies in Applied Epidemiology, No. 021-704

Please review the list of reportable diseases in Oregon.

In a letter to the Oregon Health Authority, Public Health Division, recommend a communicable disease/condition that is currently not reportable in Oregon that you think should be on the list.In 750 words or less, discuss your rationale for this recommendation.

You should use the following format to guide your recommendation:

• Introduction identifying yourself, the disease you are proposing to be reportable (citing the relevant Oregon regulations for reportable diseases), and discussion regarding why making the disease reportable is important.

• Perceived public health importance
  • Potential for spread / outbreaks (helpful website, National Outbreak Reporting System [NORS] (Links to an external site.))
  • Serious and severe illnesses (morbidity and mortality)
• Available control measures
• Other state or NNDSS recommendations, even if to state there are none (helpful website: http://www.cste.org/?SRCA (Links to an external site.))

Please frame your discussion in the context of making the case for adding the disease, not simply addressing the points above. I do not expect you to perform an exhaustive literature search for this assignment; however, I do expect you to reference material that is not your own (e.g., data on disease incidence, economic impact of disease, etc). Any references should follow AMA Manual of Style, 10th Edition (http://sites.uci.edu/medsim/files/2015/03/AMA-citation-Guide.pdf (Links to an external site.)).

Include references as superscript numbers in the main text with full corresponding citation in the references section. Please let me know if you need further clarification.

Submission instructions

Include your name and Assignment #1 in the top right corner of the Word document. Note: any references cited will not count toward the word limit. Final submission should be in Word format.

I also attached the rubric for grading as below.