Overview
A infectious disease is a disease that spreads from person to person. Infectious diseases can have an impact on the community, making surveillance and control of such diseases an important part of protecting the health of Shawnee County residents.
Reportable Disease in Kansas
There are state laws that require certain diseases to be reported to the state of Kansas for surviellence.
Call the Shawnee County Health Department 24/7 to report a public health emergency or environmental/occupational public health hazard at (785) 414-0010.
Report a Food‐Borne Related Illness or Complaint HERE
Information on COVID-19
Influenza Surveillance in Shawnee County
Influenza, more commonly known as flu, is currently not a reportable disease to the health department. Therefore, it is often difficult for the health department to accurately track influenza rates as it moves through the county and the state. One indicator used for flu surveillance is the presentation of influenza-like illness (ILI) patients at health care facilities. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), influenza-like illness is defined as a patient with a fever above 100 degrees with a sore throat and/or cough without a known cause other than influenza. We encourage anyone 6 months and older to get a flu shot because it is the best protection against the flu.
Mpox
Learn more about Mpox, including case counts, symptoms, prevention, and treatment, from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment here.
Mosquito Surveillance in Shawnee County
Shawnee County received a grant in 2021 to continue mosquito surveillance activities in our community. We are able to monitor mosquitoes weekly with the help of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and the Kansas Biological Survey. We use the data we collect to be proactive with any control activities in Shawnee County in order to protect the public from diseases such as West Nile Virus.
The graph below is updated weekly and provides weekly cumulative totals from all Shawnee County trap locations in 2024 compared to the corresponding totals from 2021, 2022 and 2023. Due to a reduction in State funding the 2024 Mosquito Surveillance season did not start until June 27 (week 7) and will end October 22 (week 24):
Learn more about West Nile Virus
Epi-Surveillance Newsletters
The Epi-Surveillance newsletter is a publication put together by the Epidemiology team of the Shawnee County Health Department. This publication is designed to provide our public health partners with timely information about disease surveillance and current trends affecting our community and its partners. Information presented is based on data reported to public health authorities from providers here in Shawnee County as well as other local, state and federal data sources. Requests to subscribe or questions about the Epi-Surveillance newsletter can be sent to [email protected].
2024
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(2017-2023)