The Infectious Diseases Branch (IDB) Disease Investigations Section (DIS) conducts epidemiological assessments, including outbreak investigations, of general communicable diseases of public health importance, and develops prevention guidelines for their control. The major categories of infectious diseases followed by
IDB-DIS include foodborne, waterborne, and other enteric infections caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites; infections caused by endemic fungal diseases including coccidioidomycosis (i.e. Valley fever); and infections caused by select agents including botulism.
IDB-DIS provides the following services:
leads and collaborates on multijurisdictional and multistate investigations of infectious disease clusters or outbreaks of public health importance;
consults with and assists local health departments and other state partners in the prevention and control of communicable diseases, including public health mandates;
develops and implements evidence-based guidelines to prevent infections and control outbreaks; and
collaborates with partners at the local, state, and federal levels to improve surveillance for infectious diseases, investigate outbreaks, and develop preventive measures.