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Recreational Water Illness Outbreak Response Toolkit

The following information is intended to help state and local health departments respond to outbreaks of recreational water illnesses (RWIs). While some downloadable documents below are cryptosporidiosis-specific, they can also be used as models when creating similar documents for other pathogens. Likewise, though these documents focus on parasitic diseases, some of the information can be used or adapted for use in non-parasitic RWI outbreaks. All documents can be downloaded and altered as needed.

  •  Establish key contacts with partners at other local or state health departments and community partners such as laboratories, media, and child care centers.
  • Check resources and contingency plans. If your health department is low on resources, think ahead to what types of equipment or other resources may be needed in the outbreak response. Other state health department or local health departments may be able to share resources.
  • Share information with other health departments and community partners. This can speed up the investigation process and help fill knowledge gaps.
  •  At the beginning of an outbreak it’s important to identify as many confirmed cases as possible to help find the source of the outbreak. This can be done through mass mailings, press conferences, the Internet, and other types of public outreach.
  • If possible, establish a hotline for outbreak-related calls.
  • To reduce the likelihood of community-wide spread of cryptosporidiosis, consult the Cryptosporidium Outbreak and Response and Evaluation (CORE) Guidelines[PDF - 12 pages].

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