Real-time surveillance of infectious diseases and other health conditions during Iraq´s Arbaeenia mass gathering: a teaching case-study
Abdul Wahhab Mohammed Kamil Jawad
Corresponding author: Abdul Wahhab Mohammed Kamil Jawad, Najaf Directorate of Health, Ministry of Health, Al Najaf Al Ashraf province, Kufa district, Iraq 
Received: 02 Jul 2020 - Accepted: 29 Jul 2020 - Published: 04 Aug 2020
Domain: Epidemiology
Keywords: Mass gathering, real-time surveillance, health system
This article is published as part of the supplement Teaching case-studies in Field Epidemiology with a focus on the Eastern Mediterranean Region, commissioned by The Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET).
©Abdul Wahhab Mohammed Kamil Jawad et al. Pan African Medical Journal (ISSN: 1937-8688). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article: Abdul Wahhab Mohammed Kamil Jawad et al. Real-time surveillance of infectious diseases and other health conditions during Iraq´s Arbaeenia mass gathering: a teaching case-study. Pan African Medical Journal. 2020;36(1):10. [doi: 10.11604/pamj.supp.2020.36.1.24755]
Available online at: https://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/series/36/1/10/full
PDF in process Case study 
Real-time surveillance of infectious diseases and other health conditions during Iraq´s Arbaeenia mass gathering: a teaching case-study
Real-time surveillance of infectious diseases and other health conditions during Iraq´s Arbaeenia mass gathering: a teaching case-study
Abdul Wahhab Mohammed Kamil Jawad1,&
&Corresponding author
Mass gatherings (MGs) are public events attended by many people and held for many reasons. Mass gatherings can exert a strain on local resources like food, drinks, and accommodations, and can add burden to host countries and to travelers´ countries of origin. The most common religious mass gatherings in the Middle East are the Hajj at Mecca in Saudi Arabia and the Arbaeenia in Karbala in Iraq. The growing number of individuals who attend the annual Arbaeenia mass gathering can lead to increased risk of transmission and importing of infectious diseases, therefore there is a need to develop a simple surveillance system to detect several health conditions. The goal of this case study is to build the capacity of trainees to implement real-time surveillance during mass gatherings. This case study stimulates the students to define mass gatherings, implement a surveillance system during mass gatherings, analyse surveillance data, and establish a plan to decrease the burden on the health system. The case study is designed for novice field epidemiology trainees. The case study can be completed in 3-4 hours. Used as adjunct training material, the case study provides the trainees with competencies to determine the appropriate type of surveillance system to be used during mass gatherings.
General instructions: this case study should be used as adjunct training material for novice epidemiology trainees to reinforce the concepts taught in prior lectures. The case study is ideally taught by a facilitator in groups of about 20 participants. Participants are to take turns reading the case study, usually a paragraph per student. The facilitator guides the discussion on possible responses to questions. The facilitator may make use of flip charts to illustrate certain points. Additional instructor´s notes for facilitation are coupled with each question in the instructor´s guide to aid facilitation.
Audience: this case study was developed for novice field epidemiology students. These participants are commonly health care workers working in the county departments of health whose professional background may be medical doctors, nurses, environmental health officers or laboratory scientists who work in public health-related fields. Most have a health science or biology background.
Prerequisites: before using this case study, participants should have received lectures on surveillance during Mass gathering.
Materials needed: Flash drive, flip charts, markers, computers with MS Excel
Level of training and associated public health activity: Novice - Surveillance of mass gathering.
Time required: 2-3 hours
Language: English
- Download the case study student guide (PDF - 374 KB)
- Request the case study facilitator guide
The author declare no competing interests.
We wish to acknowledge the Eastern Mediterranean Public Health Network (EMPHNET) for their support to develop this case study.
Annex 1: Investigation and Control of Measles Outbreak in Puli-Khumri and Baghlan-Markazi Districts, Baghlan province, Afghanistan
- Lami F, Hameed I, Jewad AW, Khader Y, Amiri M. Real-Time Surveillance of Infectious Diseases and Other Health Conditions During Iraq's Arbaeenia Mass Gathering: Cross-Sectional Study. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2019 Oct 4;5(4):e14510. PubMed | Google Scholar
- World Health Organization. Communicable disease alert and response for mass gatherings, Key considerations. 2008. Accessed on 20 June 2020.
- Lami F, Jewad AW, Hassan A, Kadhim H, Alharis S. Noncommunicable Disease Emergencies during Arbaeenia Mass Gathering at Public Hospitals in Karbala, Najaf, and Babel Governorates, Iraq, 2014: cross-Sectional Study. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2019 Sep 30;5(3):e10890. PubMed | Google Scholar
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