Communicable Disease

The goal of Tuscola County Health Department’s Communicable Disease program is to protect the community of Tuscola County from communicable disease threats. This program monitors the occurrence of specific diseases on a community-wide level. A communicable disease can be transmitted from person to person or animal to human by direct contact with bodily fluids, ingesting contaminated food or water, inhalation of contaminated air, or from the bite of an infected insect. Viruses, bacteria, and parasites are examples of organisms that cause communicable diseases such as Hepatitis B, Meningococcal Meningitis, and Giardia.

 

Preventing and controlling communicable disease is a vital and critical aspect of assuring community health, and is a duty of local health departments. While quickly identifying cases of disease and those at risk of acquiring or transmitting disease plays a large role, other facets are equally important. Identifying health needs of those affected as well as the recommendation of appropriate prevention measures, providing education to inform and prevent future cases of disease, and assessing the effectiveness of public health disease prevention programs are important parts of the program and necessary for a healthy community.

​

There are more than 70 reportable diseases in Michigan. Physicians, laboratories, and schools all report cases of disease to the local health department. Utilizing this information, we are able to monitor the incidence and prevalence of disease in Tuscola County. Single or multiple cases of disease are identified and investigated, recommendations and education are provided, and ideally, further spread of disease is prevented.