A 35-year-old male from rural Puerto Rico presents in your office with nausea, vomiting, and a headache. What is your most likely diagnosis? Dr. Ed Zuroweste, MCN’s Chief Medical Officer, offered up this situation as the starting point for “Global Health at Your Doorstep: Confronting the Zika Outbreak,” presented as part of last week’s Community Health Institute in Chicago. 

His session’s conclusions aren’t just applicable in uncovering public health concerns like Zika; they are essential in best serving the underserved: “A culturally and linguistically competent, focused, comprehensive clinical history is the most valuable and powerful diagnostic tool in our current medical toolbox,” Dr. Zuroweste emphasized, before diving into lessons learned from recent outbreaks of Ebola, dengue, and chikungunya, and the specific health needs and challenges of underserved and mobile populations like farmworkers here in the US.

Dr. Zuroweste’s presentation was complemented by two other panel members. Wanda Barfield, MD, MPH is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Director of the Division of Reproductive Health at the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. She presented Zika as a public health management concern through the lens of the CDC. Hector Villanueva, MD, is the Medical Director of HealthProMed in San Juan, Puerto Rico. “He’s right in the epicenter of the Zika outbreak and is taking a major lead in the current epidemic along with other health centers,” Dr. Zuroweste explained. He provided the on-the-ground perspective of how the outbreak is being handled in Puerto Rico. The Community Health Institute was sponsored by the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), which recorded the session for future access. Keep a lookout on MCN’s Facebook or Twitter to hear when the recording is available. 

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