Disease outbreak

In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season.

[1] When investigating disease outbreaks, the epidemiology profession has developed a number of widely accepted steps.

In outbreaks identified through notifiable disease surveillance, reports are often linked to laboratory results and verifying the diagnosis is straight forward.

In outbreaks of unknown etiology, determining and verifying the diagnosis can be a significant part of the investigation with respect to time and resources.

[4] Outbreak debriefing and review has also been recognized as an additional final step and iterative process by the Public Health Agency of Canada.

WHO member states are holding a special session in November 2021 to consider the International Treaty for Pandemic Preparedness and Response to establish further legal obligations in managing disease outbreaks.