Communicable Disease Control Essay

Murray Valley encephalitis virus belongs to a group of arboviral viruses, in other words to the viruses that are spread by arthropods. In the situation under consideration, it is very important to take rapid and timely measures. The distinguishing feature of Murray Valley encephalitis virus is subclinical infection, which means that a lot of people might be infected but be unaware of it (French, 1952, pp.85).

Therefore, warning of the population comes first. TV broadcasting, newspapers and warnings on the Internet will be effective. The first symptoms of encephalitis, caused by Murray Valley virus, might be headache, fever or nausea, which in fact do not suggest an idea of encephalitis. So, my first task is to attract people’s attention to the possible danger.

The second task is to warn hospitals about the danger of encephalitis outbreak. Hospital staff should pay more attention to patients’ complaints, which might be connected with the spread of encephalitis infection. Moreover, local hospitals should be equipped with all necessary medicines for encephalitis treatment.

At last, together with all mentioned above measures, the population should be informed about the precautionary measures. They should know the source of the danger, i.e. mosquitoes, and should know how to reduce the risk of infection (Calisher, 2004, pp.25). Clothes with long sleeves, long trousers, and mosquito repellents are very effective in case avoidance of mosquito areas is impossible.

To make a conclusion, under high risk of outbreak of arboviral disease the major task of public health units is to warn the population about the danger and inform people about the precautions in order to reduce the number of cases of disease. At the same time it is necessary to bring the hospitals into a higher state of readiness.