Acute Disease Service

Mission:
The mission of the Acute Disease Service is to control communicable disease through: surveillance for infectious diseases; investigation of disease outbreaks; analysis of data to plan, implement and evaluate disease prevention and control measures; dissemination of pertinent information; education of healthcare professionals and the public; and bioterrorism preparedness.

Purpose of the Acute Disease Service website:
The purpose of the Acute Disease Service website is to present information on infectious diseases, including the epidemiology of disease in Oklahoma, background information on specific diseases and conditions, fact sheets and educational resources regarding disease prevention, and statistical summaries of diseases that are reportable in Oklahoma. This website also contains references and resources on disease reporting and publications of disease surveillance data and investigations conducted by the Acute Disease Service.

Acute Disease Service Key Efforts:

Public Health Investigation and Disease Detection of Oklahoma (PHIDDO)
Disease reporting and investigation are the basis of surveillance. The preferred method of disease reporting in Oklahoma is through the Public Health Investigation and Disease Detection of Oklahoma (PHIDDO) system. PHIDDO is a real-time, secure, internet-based application that provides a centralized place for reporting diseases and conditions in Oklahoma. All data is secure and accessible only to registered users. Once a user submits a report through PHIDDO, the disease report is reviewed and assigned for investigation and follow up. The benefits of PHIDDO include secure disease reporting, accurate report submission, decrease in the time of report, decrease in the time to begin and complete investigations and control efforts, and elimination of paperwork, faxing and mailing of reports to the OSDH. PHIDDO users include physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, infection control practitioners, laboratorians and other personnel in a clinic or health care setting who would be submitting cases of reportable diseases and conditions.

Oklahoma Health Alert Network (OK-HAN)
The Oklahoma Health Alert Network (OK-HAN) system is an emergency communications system used to distribute emergent health-related information to healthcare providers and public health partners. Message distribution is via fax, phone, and/or e-mail. The OK-HAN secure website provides registered users with the ability to view and share information in a secure format, which includes a bulletin board, as well as the ability to update their own professional and personal information to ensure delivery of notifications. Individuals encouraged to register are health care providers, infection control practitioners, laboratorians, and public health personnel

For additional information or to request access to the PHIDDO or OK-HAN systems, please contact the Acute Disease Service at adservice@health.ok.gov. 

Surveillance
The Oklahoma State Board of Health officially establishes certain diseases as reportable by health practitioners, laboratory personnel and county health departments. The list of reportable diseases and pathogens in Oklahoma may be obtained by referring to the Reportable Diseases/Pathogens link on this webpage. All disease reports are investigated to determine the danger to a specific population group or to the general population at large. These diseases can be prevented or controlled by administering interventions such as immunization, immune globulin, vector control, or by other control methods. Information is collected on all disease reports to observe increasing and/or decreasing trends in disease occurrence, and to gather information regarding the causes of disease in Oklahoma. This enables the Oklahoma State Department of Health to evaluate and target our control, education, and prevention efforts across Oklahoma.

Outbreak Investigations
The epidemiologists of the Acute Disease Service respond statewide to conduct epidemiologic investigations of unusual disease clusters and outbreaks of infectious diseases. The purpose of outbreak investigation is to identify the agent causing the illness, determine the source and how the infectious disease was transmitted, and to implement control measures to prevent additional diseases, thereby protecting the public. The Acute Disease Service conducts these investigations in partnership with county health department personnel and local health care providers, and at times in cooperation with other OSDH Services, and State and Federal agencies.

Contact Information:

Acute Disease Service
1000 N.E. 10th St.
Oklahoma City, OK 73117-1299
Phone: (405) 271-4060
Fax: (405) 271-6680