Health Department Forms Folder 0065, 1999-2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

THE CITY OF NEW YORK DEPARTMENT OF HEAL OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER

NEAL L. COHEN, M.D. COMMISSIONER 125 WORTH STREET TEL (212) 788-5261 NEW YORK, NY 10013 FAX (212) 964-0472

July 21, 2000

Mr. Anthony Cuti Chairman & C Duane Read nc. 440 Ninth Avenue, 6th Floor New York, New York 10001

Dear Mr. Cuti:

The New York City Departments of Health and Environmental Protection are requesting your assistance in an important public health program to improve our ability to detect infectious disease outbreaks in New York City.

Infectious disease outbreaks, though extremely unpredictable, will continue to occur in New York City. The 1999 West Nile virus outbreak is an example of an unexpected introduction of a new infectious agent into our urban environment. With the tremendous volume of international traffic moving through the City, the increasing global concerns regarding pandemic influenza, bioterrorism, and emerging infectious diseases, it isimperative that we continue to develop sensitive surveillance systems to detect outbreaks as early as possible in order to quickly intervene and prevent a potentially large number of casualties.

As part of an ongoing effort to monitor public health in New York City, the City's Departments of Health and Environmental Protection have developed a multi-faceted diarrheal disease surveillance program. Under this program, the City has devised early warning systems for the detection of diarrheal outbreaks, utilizing several different indicators of illness in the population. These indicators include: (a) sales of over-the-counter anti-diarrheal medications, (b) number of stools submitted to sentinel laboratories for bacterial and parasitic testing, and (c) new onset diarrheal illness at sentinel nursing homes in the City. The early detection of diarrhea — whether transmitted by food, person-to-person contact, or water — is important because it prompts immediate epidemiologic investigation and timely intervention, which can limit the spread of illness in the community.

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