• Email this page
• Printer-friendly version

Recreational Water Illness Outbreak Response Toolkit

The following information is intended to help state and local health departments respond to outbreaks associated with recreational water illnesses (RWIs). While some downloadable documents below are cryptosporidiosis-specific, they can also be used as models when creating similar documents for other pathogens. Likewise, though this page was produced by CDC‘s Division of Parasitic Diseases, some of the information below can be used or adapted for use in non-parasitic RWI outbreaks. All documents can be downloaded and altered as needed.

General information

Helpful Tips for Recreational Water Outbreak Response

Investigation

Generic Pool-Related Cryptosporidiosis Outbreak Case and Control Questionnaires

Environmental Health Outbreak Investigation Survey: Swimming Pool Venue (Word, 227 KB)
( PDF document, 180 KB)

Pool Remediation

Hyperchlorination to kill Cryptosporidium (Revised August 2008) (PDF, 50 KB)

Communication

Cryptosporidiosis Outbreak Response & Evaluation (CORE) (PDF, 577 KB)

Sample Letters for sending to communities during a cryptosporidiosis outbreak

Data Management

Download Epi Info software

Sample line listing to keep track of cases [use legal (8.5" x 14") size paper for printing].
( Word document, 54 KB) (Access, 11 KB [zipped])

Laboratory Diagnostic Assistance on Parasitic Diseases

The Division of Parasitic Diseases offers reference, training, and diagnositc assistance for state and local heatlh department laboratiorians through DPDx.

Reporting Waterborne Disease Outbreaks

Waterborne Diseases Outbreak Report Form (PDF, 87 KB)

Coming Soon: Electronic Reporting of Waterborne Disease Outbreaks

The National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS) is a web-based reporting system for waterborne, foodborne, enteric person-to-person and animal contact-associated disease outbreaks. The system will launch nationally in 2009 and all waterborne disease outbreaks occurring after that date will be reported to CDC electronically. Some state and local outbreak investigators may need to use the new version of the CDC 52.12 form (see below) and submit it to a state-designated NORS user. Please note that the new CDC 52.12 form is several pages longer that the previous version. Both NORS and the new form were developed using feedback from state/territorial partners and comments on past forms. State feedback indicated that the form would be easier to use if it was divided into sections specific to four types of water exposures (recreational-treated water, recreational-untreated water, drinking water, water not intended for drinking/water of unknown intent). Comments on past forms led to the re-structuring of existing questions to better capture outbreak details and the addition of some new questions that previous versions of the form did not ask. For users who prefer to print out the full form below, refer to the tab at the top of each page. Complete the General tabs (also used for foodborne, enteric person-to-person and animal contact reports), followed by the Water-General tabs, and then only complete the tab for the type of water exposure involved in the outbreak. The new form has also been posted below by type of water exposure so that users can print out only the pages they need for each outbreak report. Although only two fields (i.e., ‘Date first case became ill’ and ‘Reporting state’) are mandatory to submit a waterborne disease outbreak report in NORS, please provide as much information as possible. Copies of investigation reports and journal articles can also be submitted to CDC via NORS as electronic attachments to the outbreak report. Questions for CDC about the new form or waterborne disease outbreak reporting in NORS can be sent to NORSadmin@cdc.gov.

NORS Waterborne Disease Outbreak Report Forms (CDC 52.12, revised March 2008)

Complete Form (PDF, 225 KB)

Recreational-Treated Water (PDF, 195 KB)

Recreational-Untreated Water (PDF, 193 KB)

Drinking Water (PDF, 234 KB)

Water Not Intended for Drinking/Water of Unknown Intent (PDF, 182 KB)

Additional Navigation for the CDC Website

• Home
• Policies and Regulations
• Disclaimer
• e-Government
• FOIA
• Contact Us