Environmental Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net)

EHS-Net (pronounced S-Net) is a collaborative forum of environmental health specialists whose mission is to improve environmental health. These specialists collaborate with epidemiologists and laboratorians to identify and prevent environmental factors contributing to foodborne and waterborne illness and disease outbreaks.

See how EHS-Net fits into the epidemiologic triangle.

See how you can use the EHS-Net Information System to support your next data collection activity.

EHS-Net links environmental health specialists from: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/ National Center for Environmental Health/ Environmental Health Services Branch, U. S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
and the following states:

• California
• Connecticut
• Georgia
• Iowa
• Minnesota
• New York
• Oregon
• Rhode Island
• Tennessee

Goals of EHS-Net

EHS-Net assists state health departments in their efforts to improve the practice of environmental health service programs. This is accomplished by

• identifying environmental antecedents (underlying factors) to illness and disease outbreaks.
• translating findings into improved prevention efforts using a systems-based approach.
• offering training opportunities to current and future environmental health specialists.
• strengthening the relations among epidemiology, laboratory, and environmental health programs.

EHS-Net Summary Presentations

Environmental Health Specialists Network (EHS-Net). [PDF - 176 KB] — EPA Office of Water, 2005. Presentation describes EHS-Net and why it should be expanded to include water projects. The addition of water projects presents a unique opportunity to integrate environmental health data into waterborne disease outbreak reporting and fills public health gaps expressed by both EPA and states related to small drinking water systems.

Understanding the Causes of Foodborne Illness. [PDF - 126 KB] — World Congress on Environmental Health biannual meeting, 2006. Presentation provides background information on foodborne illness surveillance in the United States, describes EHS-Net, summarizes findings from EHS-Net studies, and discusses how these findings might be applied.

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