The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization originally organized in 1955, founded in 1992, and based in Atlanta, Georgia. CSTE works to advance public health policy and workforce capacity for applied public health epidemiologists in all localities, states, and territories in the United States. [1]
CSTE also provides information, education, and developmental support of practicing epidemiologists in a wide range of areas as well as expertise for program and surveillance efforts. CSTE works with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Department Health and Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and other partners. CSTE is led by an executive board composed of members who lead activities in various subject-specific steering committees.
The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) is committed to improving the public's health by supporting the efforts of epidemiologists working at the state and local level to influence public health programs and policy based on science and data.
CSTE promotes the effective use of epidemiologic data to guide public health practice and improve health. CSTE accomplishes this by supporting the use of effective public health surveillance and good epidemiologic practice through training, capacity development, and peer consultation, developing standards for practice, and advocating for resources and scientifically based policy.
CSTE has worked with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Case Definitions for Public Health Surveillance and Chronic Disease Indicators.
CSTE is known for the following activities:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution, patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in defined population.
James (Jim) Chin is a public health epidemiologist. He works in public health surveillance and prevention of communicable diseases, particularly AIDS.
The Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) is a program of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The modern EIS is a two-year, hands-on post-doctoral training program in epidemiology, with a focus on field work.
Michael Thomas Osterholm is an American epidemiologist, Regents Professor, and Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.
Waterborne diseases are conditions caused by pathogenic micro-organisms that are transmitted in water. The study of pathogenic microbes is at the forefront of global focus as an urgent topic of research. These diseases can be spread while bathing, washing, drinking water, or by eating food exposed to contaminated water. They are a pressing issue in rural areas amongst developing countries all over the world. While diarrhea and vomiting are the most commonly reported symptoms of waterborne illness, other symptoms can include skin, ear, respiratory, or eye problems. Waterborne diseases are impacted by a country's economy and also impact the economy by being costly to deal with.
Public health informatics has been defined as the systematic application of information and computer science and technology to public health practice, research, and learning. It is one of the subdomains of health informatics.
Disease surveillance is an epidemiological practice by which the spread of disease is monitored in order to establish patterns of progression. The main role of disease surveillance is to predict, observe, and minimize the harm caused by outbreak, epidemic, and pandemic situations, as well as increase knowledge about which factors contribute to such circumstances. A key part of modern disease surveillance is the practice of disease case reporting.
A notifiable disease is any disease that is required by law to be reported to government authorities. The collation of information allows the authorities to monitor the disease, and provides early warning of possible outbreaks. In the case of livestock diseases, there may also be the legal requirement to kill the infected livestock upon notification. Many governments have enacted regulations for reporting of both human and animal diseases.
The European Programme for Intervention Epidemiology Training (EPIET) Fellowship provides training and practical experience in intervention epidemiology at the national centres for surveillance and control of communicable diseases in the European Union. The fellowship is aimed at EU medical practitioners, public-health nurses, microbiologists, veterinarians and other health professionals with previous experience in public health and a keen interest in epidemiology.
Field Epidemiology is the application of epidemiologic methods to unexpected health problems when a rapid on-site investigation is necessary for timely intervention. A more expansive definition is: The practice of Epidemiology in the field. Work is done in communities often as a public health service and as part of government or a closely allied institution. Field epidemiology is how epidemics and outbreaks are investigated, and is used to implement measures to protect and improve the health of the public. Field epidemiologists must deal with unexpected, sometimes urgent problems that demand immediate solution. Its methods are designed to answer specific epidemiologic questions in order to plan, implement, and/or evaluate public health interventions. These studies consider the needs of those who will use the results. The task of a field epidemiologist is not complete until the results of a study have been clearly communicated in a timely manner to those who need to know, and an intervention made to improve the health of the people.
Workplace health surveillance or occupational health surveillance (U.S.) is the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and dissemination of exposure and health data on groups of workers. The Joint ILO/WHO Committee on Occupational Health at its 12th Session in 1995 defined an occupational health surveillance system as "a system which includes a functional capacity for data collection, analysis and dissemination linked to occupational health programmes".
The Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Surveillance System (WBDOSS) is a national surveillance system maintained by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The WBDOSS receives data about waterborne disease outbreaks and single cases of waterborne diseases of public health importance in the United States and then disseminates information about these diseases, outbreaks, and their causes. WBDOSS was initiated in 1971 by CDC, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Data are reported by public health departments in individual states, territories, and the Freely Associated States. Although initially designed to collect data about drinking water outbreaks in the United States, WBDOSS now includes outbreaks associated with recreational water, as well as outbreaks associated with water that is not intended for drinking (non-recreational) and water for which the intended use is unknown.
Ali S. Khan is an American practicing physician and former Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (PHPR) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Since July 2014, he has served as Dean of the College of Public Health and Retired Assistant Surgeon General at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
Mary Guinan, Ph.D., M.D. is an American doctor specializing in public health, virology, and epidemiology. She is the dean at the School of Community Health Sciences at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Guinan is known for her work in the initial investigation of the HIV/AIDS epidemic for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The book and subsequent film And the Band Played On, by Randy Shilts documented her efforts regarding these issues; she was played by Glenne Headly. Later on, she became the first female State Health Officer appointed to the Nevada government. Guinan also became president of the American Medical Woman's Association, after 40 years of membership.
Sanitary epidemiological reconnaissance, synonym epidemiological reconnaissance is a literal name of a concept and routine of finding out disease potential on a territory of arrival of major contingent. Russian: санитарно-эпидемиологическая разведка, син. эпидемиологическая разведка. This is a kind of medical reconnaissance, process of information gathering on possible infectious diseases' origin-sources, the ways and factors of the infection transfer and determining all conditions that could have promoted the spread of infestation among army service personnel. In 1939 Academician E.N.Pavlovsky announced his "doctrine of nidality", so called by Soviet biologists. People can acquire zoonoses and insect-borne diseases when they occupy at certain times of the year natural habitat of a certain pathogen. The WHO Expert Committee on Zoonoses listed over 100 such diseases. About natural focality of the diseases is known elsewhere.
Matthew L. Boulton is an American epidemiologist and physician. He currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, and is a former Chief of the Bureau of Epidemiology for the State of Michigan. At the University of Michigan School of Public Health, Boulton is Senior Associate Dean for Global Public Health, and a Professor of Epidemiology, Global Public Health, Preventive Medicine, and Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division.
Chikwe Ihekweazu is a Nigerian epidemiologist, public health physician and World Health Organization’s Assistant Director-General for Health Emergency Intelligence.
Caitlin M. Rivers is an American epidemiologist who as Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, specializing on improving epidemic preparedness. Rivers is currently working on the American response to the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on the incorporation of infectious disease modeling and forecasting into public health decision making.
Ann Marie Kimball is an American physician. She is known for being the pioneer of electronic disease surveillance for infectious disease outbreaks and pandemics. She is currently a Professor Emerita in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington, a Consulting Fellow at the Chatham House Royal Institute of Foreign Affairs, and was a Strategic Consultant in Global Health at the Rockefeller Foundation. Kimball served as a technical and strategic lead for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation infectious disease surveillance strategy formation.