(This guideline was field tested in 2014 with the participation of multi-country outbreak investigation team in Dengue Outbreak)
Purpose
The purpose of this document is to provide guidance for the multi-country joint outbreak investigation. It is the standard operational guideline for the outbreak investigation team members from neighboring countries and not designed to be an in-depth resource for outbreak investigation, for which other resources are widely available. There are many outbreak plans for the investigation and control of communicable disease in each country. However, these plans don’t necessarily mention the joint outbreak investigation by the joint team of neighboring countries.
This SOP aims to ensure an effective and coordinated approach for joint outbreak investigation team (JOIT) in the management of outbreak from initial detection, verification to the formal declaration that the outbreak has ended and review of lessons learned. It can promote a reliable approach based on the best practice across all countries through a set of standards for outbreak response.
The appendices provide guidance on identifying the roles and responsibilities of the JOIT members, countries, organizations and individuals, investigation and control procedures, media relations etc.