At the end of June, we hosted our 10th annual Arizona Infectious Disease Training and Exercise (AZID 2019), where about 400 partners from a wide variety of organizations joined together to learn and share about best practices and current infectious disease trends in Arizona and surrounding states. We hosted speakers from local Arizona jurisdictions, other states, CDC, the Smithsonian and multiple universities.

The event kicked off with a tabletop exercise in which more than 160 public health partners explored ways to enact a coordinated response to a Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak.  During the remaining two days, we heard from infectious disease survivors, public health professionals, and researchers on a plethora of different topics including: foodborne illnesses, outbreaks, vaccine-preventable diseases, healthcare-associated infections, vectorborne and zoonotic diseases, tuberculosis, HIV, and informatics. New this year was the inclusion of two panels, who discussed lessons learned from the E. coli outbreak associated with romaine lettuce and outbreaks within correctional facilities. In case you missed out, the agenda and slides for most of the presentations are posted here.

Events like this are critical to growing the state’s capacity to prepare for and respond to infectious disease threats and help to make Arizona a healthier and safer place to live. Thank you to all who participated!