Surveillance System and Environmental Health Webinar Series
ACPM is offering a series of 11 webinars on Surveillance Systems and Environmental Health. These webinars are essential for a comprehensive understanding of the functions, components and limitations of the surveillance systems. The learners will learn how to effectively and practically use one or more of the surveillance systems and how these systems fit within the large public health and healthcare ecosystem.
Each of the 11 webinars are also avaialble for purchase separately. 10 and the 11th webinars will be avaialble in April and May 2026.
Overview of Public Health Surveillance Systems Part 1
This introductory session provides preventive medicine residents with a foundational understanding of public health surveillance and its essential role in protecting population health. The webinar outlines the history and evolution of surveillance systems, from early disease monitoring to modern approaches that incorporate environmental, behavioral, and technological data streams. Residents will explore the major purposes of surveillance, criteria for selecting conditions for monitoring, and the key components involved in designing and maintaining an effective surveillance system. The session also reviews passive, active, sentinel, and syndromic surveillance methods and illustrates how these systems inform prevention, policy, and public health action. By the end of this webinar, residents will be able to:
*Describe the purpose and core functions of public health surveillance.
* Differentiate between major types of surveillance (passive, active, sentinel, and syndromic).
* Identify key components and data sources used in establishing surveillance systems.
Overview of Public Health Surveillance Systems Part 2
This session provides an overview of key public health surveillance systems in the United States, including the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS), Hepatitis A surveillance and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Participants will learn how standardized case definitions, data collection methods, and emerging tools, such as electronic reporting and wastewater surveillance, that supports timely detection and response to public health threats. This session centers on three key learning objectives:
* Describe the structure and key components of the National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (NNDSS).
* Explain how specific surveillance systems, such as Hepatitis A surveillance and the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), collect, classify, and use data to inform public health action.
* Identify recent developments in public health surveillance, including electronic laboratory reporting, EHR-based surveillance, and wastewater-based surveillance.
Climate and Health
Climate change is a rapidly evolving public health issue with wide-ranging impacts on human health and health systems. This session examines the scientific evidence for climate change, the role of human activity in driving these changes, and the resulting direct and indirect health effects, with a focus on U.S. population health. Participants will also explore the critical role of preventive medicine and public health professionals in climate change mitigation and adaptation through clinical practice, policy, and population-based interventions. This session centers on three key learning objectives:
* Discuss practical mitigation and adaptation strategies that preventive medicine and public health professionals can apply at the individual, clinical, and population levels.
* Describe key scientific evidence demonstrating climate change and the role of human activities in driving global warming.
* Identify major direct and indirect health impacts of climate change, with particular attention to heat-related illness and other population health threats in the United States.
Public Health and Waterborne Illness
Waterborne illnesses remain a significant public health concern in the United States and globally, driven by aging infrastructure, climate-related disruptions, and emerging pathogens. This session will examine the epidemiology of waterborne diseases, key drivers of outbreaks, and the intersection of environmental health, surveillance systems, and preventive strategies. Participants will explore real-world case examples, current regulatory frameworks, and evidence-based approaches to preventing waterborne illness across communities, healthcare settings, and public health systems. The webinar will also highlight opportunities for preventive medicine physicians to strengthen preparedness, response, and risk communication related to water quality and waterborne threats. By the end of this session, partiicpants will be able to:
* Compare (3) significant waterborne outbreaks (Milwaukee, Bronx, Flint) and system failures that contributed to each.
* Describe the key roles of both public health practitioners and water system engineers in preventing and responding to water contamination events.
* Identify at least (5) major waterborne pathogens and core U.S. drinking water safety standards.
Disease Surveillance Food Safety Applications
This presentation provides a comprehensive introduction to modern food safety surveillance, tracing how surveillance systems have evolved alongside changes in U.S. food production and global supply chains. It reviews the foundations of public health surveillance, highlights major foodborne pathogens and outbreak trends, and examines the regulatory landscape guiding food safety, including the roles of agencies such as FDA and CDC. The slide deck also integrates a One Health perspective-linking human, animal, and environmental health-to illustrate how multidisciplinary collaboration strengthens detection, investigation, and prevention of foodborne and zoonotic threats. By the end of this session, partiicpants will be able to:
* Describe the (3) domains of the One Health model (human, animal, and environmental health) and explain their role in reducing zoonotic and foodborne disease risks.
* Identify at least (5) core components of food safety surveillance systems and describe how they guide public health action.
* Recognize (6) to (8) major foodborne pathogens and summarize their contribution to the annual 48 million U.S. foodborne illness cases.
Surveillance of Common Foodborne Illness in the U.S.
This webinar provides an overview of major U.S. foodborne illness surveillance systems, including the roles of FDA and CDC in monitoring and responding to outbreaks. Participants will review trends in incidence, seasonality, and severity of common pathogens, examine key clinical and environmental features, and explore real world regulatory actions such as investigations, recalls, and import alerts. The session emphasizes the integration of surveillance data, public health practice, and regulatory authority in protecting the food supply. By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
* Apply surveillance data to explain regulatory responses such as outbreak investigations, recalls, import alerts, and consumer advisories.
* Describe the roles of FDA and CDC foodborne illness surveillance systems, including FoodNet and HFCS.
* Identify and differentiate the clinical and environmental characteristics of major pathogens, including Salmonella, Listeria, E. coli, and norovirus.
Airborne Hazards: Surveillance and Clinical Considerations
Airborne exposures remain a critical intersection between occupational medicine, public health and preventive medicine, and clinical practice. This webinar will review foundations of airborne hazard monitoring and regulation, followed by clinical considerations in the evaluation of inhalational exposures. The session will conclude with an overview of military deployment-related respiratory exposures and pulmonary symptoms. Designed for preventive medicine and occupational medicine trainees, this session emphasizes practical clinical application grounded in regulatory and exposure science principles. By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
* Apply a mechanism-based clinical approach to the evaluation of inhalational toxic exposures.
* Describe key federal regulatory and monitoring frameworks governing occupational and ambient air exposures.
* Differentiate major categories of airborne hazards, including particulates, irritant gasses, and asphyxiants.
* Review military deployment-related respiratory exposures and the concept of Deployment Related Respiratory Disease.
Measles Outbreak and Response
This webinar provides an overview of measles as a highly contagious viral disease and examines key strategies for outbreak detection, surveillance, and control. Participants will learn how measles spreads, its clinical presentation, and the role of integrated surveillance systems - such as laboratory, syndromic, and wastewater surveillance - in identifying and monitoring outbreaks. The session highlights evidence-based public health interventions, including isolation and quarantine protocols, vaccination strategies (e.g., MMR), and targeted response approaches to reduce transmission. It also outlines the roles of federal, state, and local agencies in outbreak response, emphasizes effective risk communication, and discusses ongoing challenges to measles elimination in the United States. By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
•Apply surveillance principles to a measles outbreak response
•Discuss public health strategies for measles control
•Identify uses for multiple surveillance systems for measles
•Understand roles of federal, state, and local government in outbreak responses
Cholera Outbreak
This webinar explores why preventable diseases like cholera continue to cause significant morbidity and mortality worldwide. Using cholera as a case study, the session examines key drivers of outbreaks-including conflict, climate change, displacement, and gaps in water, sanitation, and healthcare systems-while highlighting the critical role of public health surveillance and response strategies in reducing disease burden and improving population health outcomes. By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
•Describe the epidemiology and global burden of cholera.
•Discuss effective prevention and response strategies to reduce cholera transmission and mortality.
•Explain the role of surveillance systems in detecting and monitoring cholera.
•Identify key social, environmental, and structural factors contributing to cholera outbreaks.