Objective: We describe and analyze case investigation and contact tracing (CICT) efforts across Ohio's public universities in response to COVID-19 to distill challenges and lessons learned and suggest future opportunities for universities to mobilize in the face of emergent public health crises. Participants: Faculty, staff, and graduate students…

This report evaluates the COVID-19 situation after the release of the report, "A Blueprint for Back to School," which offered a framework for safely reopening schools in the fall. The report reflected the insights from 20 former federal officials, state school chiefs, and superintendents, many drawing on their experiences leading…

Timely identification and reporting of rare infectious diseases has important economic, social and health implications. In this study, we investigate how different stakeholders in the existing reporting system influence the timeliness in identification and reporting of rare infectious diseases. Building on the vision of the information supply…

The intent of the project described was to apply the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) to achieve a consensus on Avian Influenza (AI) planning in Northeastern Ohio. Nominal Group Technique is a process first developed by Delbecq, Vande Ven, and Gustafsen (1975) to allow all participants to have an equal say in an open forum setting. A very diverse…

A flu outbreak at Madison Junior High School in Ohio prompted school officials to close the building for two days. At Webber Junior High School in Fort Collins, Colorado, where absenteeism recently hit 20 percent for two bad weeks, educators were forced to slow the pace of schoolwork so sick students did not fall behind. This article reports on…