The outbreak I chose was Birthday Party Gone Wrong, and my score is 1,500. Based on such a result, I would assume that I am an efficient disease detective since I have analytical skills and use clues successfully to identify the issue. According to the statistics provided by the application, 52 people got sick after attending the community swim club, with five hospitalizations (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). Among the common symptoms of the patients are tiredness, vomiting, stomach pains, and watery diarrhea that lasts for a week. After collecting each clue and keeping the symptoms in mind, I found the reason for the outbreak. First, I looked at hospitalizations and found out that five children were admitted to the hospital with severe diarrhea, and the next day, four children were admitted with the same symptoms. As one of the mothers told the CDC team, homemade ice cream could have been made with raw eggs. However, I chose to make the call to other families to learn more about the party. It turned out that 30 children and 16 adults attended the party and two of the children left before eating the cake and ice cream. After talking to the parents, I found out that the guests did not eat the same food, which means that the sickness is not due to foodborne illness. However, most children swam, implying that many germs can be in the pool water.
Then I saw the test results indicating the presence of Cryptosporidium, also known as Crypto. These parasites are found in infected water or soil, most commonly causing watery diarrhea (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2021). In this case, it was vital to determine whether the cases were connected. As a result, I learned that all patients attended the same pool during the two days and felt symptoms within a week, and most patients were children. Thus, the source of the outbreak is the water in the pool, which the children swallowed.
References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2013). Solve the Outbreak. Web.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021). Cryptosporidium. Web.