Over the course of 10 days, a small rural town reports a gro…

Over the course of 10 days, a small rural town reports a growing number of residents with complaints of abdominal cramping and watery diarrhea. Cases continue to appear each day, and interviews reveal that nearly all affected individuals have been drinking from the same unregulated well. Once the well is closed, no new cases are reported. What type of epidemic curve would most likely be observed in this outbreak for a pathogen with an incubation period of 2-3 days?

In response to the growing global burden of dengue fever, a…

In response to the growing global burden of dengue fever, a biotechnology company developed a new tetravalent dengue vaccine. Early phase clinical trials showed the vaccine was safe and generated an immune response. The company now seeks to evaluate whether the vaccine is effective at preventing symptomatic dengue infections in high-incidence areas. They enroll 10,000 healthy adult volunteers in Brazil, where dengue transmission is high. Participants are randomly assigned to receive either the dengue vaccine or a placebo. Over the next 18 months, participants are monitored for the development of laboratory-confirmed dengue infection. What type of study design is being conducted?

In 2025, an outbreak of Salmonella occurred in the coastal r…

In 2025, an outbreak of Salmonella occurred in the coastal region of North Carolina. Over several weeks, 20 cases were reported, with most cases residing in Nags Head, NC. After descriptive epidemiology and hypothesis-generating interviews, investigators suspected one of several food establishments in the area, but needed to identify which specific restaurant was linked to the outbreak. The investigation revealed that a large family reunion had taken place at a local community center, where over 100 guests had attended and were served food catered by a single restaurant. Investigators obtained a complete guest list and interviewed both sick and well attendees about what they had eaten at the event. Which analytic study design is most appropriate for determining which food item(s) were associated with illness in this outbreak?