Introduction of Public Health
Microbiology (PM 240)
Prof Jeremiah Seni (MD, M.Med, Ph.D)
Department of Microbiology & Immunology
12th April 2023
Outlines
• Introduction
• Scope
• Significance
• Regulatory bodies
• References
Introduction
• Public health microbiology is the branch of microbiology dealing
with disease surveillance, outbreak investigation and environmental
measures to ensure infectious diseases are prevented and controlled
• It is a cross-cutting (multi-sectorial & multidisciplinary) area
that spans the fields of human, animal, food, water, and environmental
microbiology, with a focus on human health and disease
• A well organized and equipped laboratory in terms of materials and
expertize is mandatory
Why Public Health Microbiology?
Public Health is multi-disciplinary with common goals
• Epidemiologists & Public Health specialists
• Laboratory specialists
• Clinicians
• Veterinarians
• Environmental specialists
• Nurses
• Community workers
• and other cadres like……….
Infectious disease epidemiology
– Hypothesis -> risk factors -> methods
to make conclusions from incomplete data Veterinary data
Public health microbiology
Clinical microbiology
– Evidence of the presence of pathogen,
but not everyone can be sampled and the Environmental data
problems don’t stop there...
Scope
• Infectious diseases surveillance
• Disease outbreaks’ investigations
• Food microbiology
• Water microbiology
• Biosafety and Biosecurity (including bioterrorism)
Significance
1. Confirm diagnosis for targeted interventions (detection, monitoring,
outbreak response, and providing scientific evidence)
2. Identify (new) types of pathogens
• Population-dynamics
• Virulence, persistence, resistance
• Implications for control measures
3. Microbiological safety of food and water
4. Quality assurance of diagnostic results
5. Information management, communication and coordination
6. Biosafety and Biosecurity
7. Develop new tests/ Optimize existing tests
8. Basic/applied research for new insights and innovative solutions to health
problems (vaccine and antibiotic development)
Regulatory Bodies, Policies and Laws
• Different types and levels of laboratories
• Laboratory field epidemiology network
• Ministry of Health (MoH)
• Africa CDC
• CDC
• WHO
• International health regulation (IHR)
Re-cap
Infectious
Food
diseases
Microbiology
surveillance
Biosafety & Biosecurity
Outbreaks’ Water
investigations Microbiology
Public Health Microbiology
