• infectious diseases such as SARS which is spread person to person, or community-acquired pneumonias
• bird flu which is spread from animals to people
• contaminated food or water  as a result of bacteria, and sometimes as a result of natural disasters such as hurricanes or floods
• vaccines programs, or problems with vaccines  
• occupational illnesses that can affect large numbers of workers in certain types of work & jobs

Here are some websites that provide information on the public health issues:

www.cdc.gov  Up-to-date information on flus, pandemics, natural disasters & much more here!

http://chem.sis.nlm.nih.gov/chemidplus/chemidlite.jsp: Dictionary of 380,000 chemicals, their synonyms and structures.

http://hazmap.nlm.nih.gov/  Links jobs & hazardous tasks with diseases & symptoms

http://hpd.nlm.nih.gov/ Household Products Datbase: health & safety information on products in your house, garage, shop.

http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/htmlgen?LACT Lists of drugs to which breastfeeding mothers and their infants might be exposed

http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro/pesticides.html:  Many links to websites dealing with pesticide exposure.

http://toxmap.nlm.nih.gov/toxmap/main/index.jsp :TOXMAP  is a Geographic Information System (GIS) from the Division of Specialized Information Services (http://sis.nlm.nih.gov) of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) (http://www.nlm.nih.gov) that uses maps of the United States to help users visually explore data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency including TRI & superfund sites.

http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/  : TOXNET contains a collection of databases (some mentioned above) that can be searched individually or as a whole, for specific chemicals used in work or home.

http://toxtown.nlm.nih.gov/ : TOXTOWN - chemicals and environmental risks you might meet every day, places you spend your time.

http://healthvermont.gov/  Vermont Department of Health website - for news on local health concerns, outbreaks, restaurant scores, mental health topics, substance abuse, and emergency preparedness.

http://wiser.nlm.nih.gov/ :  WISER = wireless Information System for Emergency Responders. Download to your PDA, or use the Web version.  Identify toxic spills, determine proper containment, protective equipment, etc.