Overview and Learning Objectives
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.
Sharon Balter, MD, MFA
Sharon Balter, MD, MFA Bio
Dr. Sharon Balter is the Director of the Division of Communicable Disease Control at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. She moved to Los Angeles after spending 16 years as the Director of the Enteric, Waterborne, and Health Education Program at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH).
During her sixteen years at NYC DOHMH, she managed a team that examined over 300 foodborne outbreaks, formed "Team Sal," a student team to help with foodborne outbreaks, and worked on using social media to detect outbreaks. She and her team also established chronic hepatitis B and C registries, which they utilized to estimate the disease burden in New York City. She collaborated closely with Environmental Health to create one of the first cooling tower registries in the United States for use in researching Legionella occurrences. Finally, she responded to a number of public health emergencies, including establishing syndromic surveillance following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, shelter surveillance following hurricanes, and investigating infectious disease emergencies such as anthrax, Zika, the H1N1 influenza pandemic, and others.
She joined the Los Angeles Department of Public Health (LAC DPH) as Director of the Division of Disease Control in 2017, where she oversees surveillance and outbreak investigations for the Acute Communicable Disease Program, the Vaccine Preventable Disease Program, and the Veterinary Public Health Programs. While at LAC DPH, she handled numerous outbreaks such as Hepatitis, measles, mumps, mpox, and Dengue, as well as the early COVID-19 investigations and vaccination roll-out in LA County, and led the monitoring and data unit as part of the longer-term COVID-19 response. She is particularly interested in public health data modernization and has contributed to the department's examination of current systems as well as the development of an Information Management Program.