Community Trends in Southeast Idaho- Lindsey Acor

Lindsey Acor

For my community trends assignment I spoke with Mike Taylor, a surveillance epidemiologist for the Eastern Idaho Public Health District. He gave me a list of the top five infectious diseases in the area and talked to me about applying for health promotion and epidemiology internships next spring.

Unfortunately, the number one trending disease in the area is chlamydia. Chlamydia is a bacterial infection and is usually sexually transmitted.  In the United States, it is the most common STD. Often chlamydia is manifest with gonorrhea or syphilis, but not in all cases. All confirmed and suspected cases of chlamydia are required to be reported to the area health department.

The second most common disease Mike mentioned was campylobacter. This is a bacterial illness usually acquired by eating raw or under-cooked poultry meat or other foods that have been contaminated by it,  by drinking unpasteurized milk or contaminated water, or through fecal-oral transmission (usually from a cat or dog). Campylobacter is not always serious, although some die from it. Typical symptoms are intestinal discomfort and diarrhea. This disease can be transmitted person-to-person through diarrhea, although this is not very common.

Next on the list is salmonella. I have to admit, I was kind of surprised by this. I did not think that foodborne illnesses would be so high on the list. Like the two previously mentioned diseases, salmonella is a bacterial infection. It is commonly spread through under-cooked or raw poultry (meat and eggs). Common symptoms are intestinal discomfort for 4 to 7 days. Abdominal cramps may begin 12 to 72 hours after infection and are often accompanied by diarrhea and fever. 

Another common disease is E. coli, which is also a bacterial infection. There are lots of different kinds of E. coli, some strains cause diarrhea or pneumonia, but other strains are used to indicate water contamination. A lot of the time, humans are infected with E. coli through beef. This strain will cause diarrhea for up to 10 days, but may not occur until 3 or 4 days after being infected. Other sources of E. coli may be raw milk, unpasteurized apple cider, petting zoos, or not washing your hands after using the restroom.

The last disease Mike mentioned was Cryptosporidium, which is also known as “Crypto.” Crypto is a waterborne parasite that causes diarrhea. A lot of times it’s found in swimming pools but can also be found in drinking water and other recreational bodies of water. One of the biggest problems with Crypto is that it is highly resistant to chlorine. This makes it difficult to get rid of in swimming pools and drinking water. Since it is mostly found in recreational water, there are higher incidence rates of crypto in the summertime in my home town because it’s far too cold to swim in the winter.