Review outbreak prevention measures with staff including:

• Immunizations

• Illness Monitoring

• Handwashing and Respiratory Etiquette

• Cleaning and Disinfection

• Ventilation and Air Quality

These prevention measures can minimize the transmission of illness and ensure a healthy camp experience for everyone. Camps should have policies and procedures in place to lower the impact of communicable diseases on the camp community.

Report suspect outbreaks of infectious disease at your camp to your Local Health Department immediately.

As a reminder, you may be experiencing an outbreak if:

• Several children who exhibit similar symptoms are in the same group, the same wing of a facility or they attended a common event.

• There is an increase in camp absences with many parents reporting similar symptoms as the reason why their child is not attending school.

• Two or more campers or staff members are diagnosed with the same reportable disease (e.g., salmonellosis).

• One or more campers or staff members are diagnosed with or thought to have a highly infectious disease (e.g., measles, bacterial meningitis). Do not wait for confirmation in these instances, as the potential for an outbreak exists.

Camp Resources

The DSH Team wants to share available resources that you can review with your camp staff to help keep children and staff healthy and safe during camp season!

• General Guidelines for the Control and Prevention of Outbreaks in Camp Settings

• H5N1 Bird Flu Guidance for Schools and Camps

• Vector-borne Diseases Camp Flyers