Nationwide Preparedness Exercise Revealed Variation in Readiness for Outbreak Investigation in Environmental Health Units in Finland, 2020

Differences between environmental health units' scores indicated inconsistency in outbreak investigations between areas in Finland. The variability in preparedness scores was high in both the highest and lowest outbreak incidence regions. Because outbreaks occur rarely in most EHU areas, preparedness exercises are necessary to maintain investigation skills. Measures to enhance sampling would be needed because the causative agent was unknown in over 1/3 of the outbreaks. Many local investigation teams lack experience in public communication and training on communicating about outbreaks is needed.