What is the Health Department doing to stop the outbreak?
• The GCHD is working with experts from the Michigan Department of Community Health (MDCH) to control and stop the outbreak • Outbreak control activities include treating and educating people with syphilis, finding their sexual contacts to provide testing, treatment, and education, and providing support to health care providers with testing and patient follow-up • The GCHD is also distributing information regarding syphilis and its prevention to the health care community, those at risk, and the general public • The GCHD has been encouraging health care providers to identify symptoms of STDs and to increase screening for syphilis and other STDs in at risk populations • Widespread outreach is being conducted to alert those at risk of becoming infected with syphilis • GCHD is also working with community organizations and businesses to offer onsite and after hours testing for syphilis and other sexually transmitted diseases
