The Public Health Department epidemiology team investigates individual cases and outbreaks of reported communicable disease. The team monitors disease trends, conducts data analysis and often provides current statistics and other information to health care providers, hospitals, the public and news media.
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Community Health Assessment, July 2018
Epidemiology of Hepatitis C, June 2018
Epidemiologic Profile: HIV/AIDS, May 2018
Pathology Findings for San Luis Obispo County Coroner Investigated Deaths: April 2015 – March 2018
Community Health Status Reports
HIV/AIDS Reports
Leading Causes of Accidental Death in SLO County
Leading Causes of Premature Mortality in SLO County
Annual Disease Counts
DISEASE 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
HIV 18 20 18 17 11 17 18 7 17
AIDS 6 4 3 3 3 4 3 1 5
Campylobacteriosis 101 88 77 79 72 75 62 72 45
Chlamydia 673 815 862 983 1033 1083 1147 1258 1195
Coccidiodomycosis * (Valley Fever) 102 170 107 49 22 62 231 368 463
Cryptosporidiosis 24 12 7 5 8 6 8 8 9
E. Coli 13 2 10 13 13 11 16 16 13
Giardiasis 9 17 16 7 10 16 10 9 8
Gonorrhea 31 50 84 62 150 169 231 182 189
Hepatitis A 1 0 4 2 0 0 2 1 1
Hepatitis B (Chronic) 36 40 21 17 17 25 17 38 22
Hepatitis C (Community) ** - 104 - 68 - 67 - - 5
Hepatitis C (Correctional) - - 337 272 227 148 138 98 139
Lyme Disease 0 1 0 3 3 4 2 3 2
Measles (Rubeola) 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 1
Meningitis (Bacterial) 4 2 3 0 0 4 4 8 5
Meningitis (Viral) 35 12 3 17 12 21 13 12 12
MRSA 0 0 1 0 2 1 0 0 1
Pertussis 371 15 14 17 45 21 29 15 21
Rubella 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Salmonella 33 20 42 42 39 50 40 29 21
Shigellosis 5 4 2 4 7 9 2 8 13
Syphilis (Primary/Secondary) 0 2 5 6 6 10 17 14 19
Tuberculosis 4 6 3 4 3 2 1 6 2
Note: Numbers in italics represent preliminary case counts still under investigation; case counts may change as investigations are completed.
* Coccidiodomycosis reporting can be delayed; case counts for previous years will be updated as data becomes available.
** Many persons are tested for HCV more than once, in different counties. The State of California regularly de-duplicates cases that have been reported in multiple jurisdictions, and provides this updated number for each county. This actual number of newly diagnosed cases is generally lower than is reported by laboratory testing and SLO County medical providers. The numbers included here reflect de-duplicated case counts, which are not available for every year.
Why do numbers sometimes change over time?
You may notice that disease case counts sometimes change over time and local numbers sometimes differ from state reports for the same time period. The reasons involve state and local systems used to report, track and de-duplicate data.
State review. Case counts most often change over time for chronic reportable diseases, those that stay with a patient for years or even a lifetime. In these cases, health care providers or labs in different counties may report the same patient's illness to different local health departments. This commonly happens when a patient travels to see a specialist or lives near the border of two counties, such as in Santa Maria, and gets health care in both. While each local health department only has access to their own data and cannot see this duplication, the state department of public health reviews cases from all counties and de-duplicates cases reported in multiple jurisdictions. This review leads to revised local numbers, often a year or more after initial reporting.
Local review. In other cases, numbers may change after local review. For example, state reports on opioid deaths are based on ICD-10 codes. Locally, our epidemiologist also closely reviews death certificates and specific information sources (such as coroner's toxicology reports) and may identify additional cases through this review. In a common example, a death may be coded as a cardiac arrest, when in fact the cardiac arrest was caused by opioid overdose. This review is important in understanding the local epidemiology of an illness or injury, and is particularly relevant given SLO County's relatively small population.
Where can I find more local-level data?
ACTION for Healthy Communities
"What is the quality of life like in San Luis Obispo County? Do residents feel safe? Are there enough employment opportunities?" These are the questions a collaborative group of organizations asks every three years to assess the quality of life in San Luis Obispo County.
​SLO Health Counts
SLO Health Counts is a health data hub that makes local health information easy to find and easy to understand.
Where can I find more state-level data?
CA Department of Finance Demographic Forecasts
The California Department of Finance provides the most accurate demographic data and population forecasts for the region.
CHIS
The California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) is a survey of all Californians conducted every other year through UCLA to collect data on selected health indicators from various age groups in California. The data is collected and reported on a central website, and available for comparison across years of the survey.
STD Data
The California Department of Public Health provides STD summary tables to track county, California and national rates.
Where can I find more federal-level data?
U.S. Census Data
The U.S. Census Bureau collects and reports on a variety of data about America's changing population, housing and workforce through the U.S. Census, the American Community Survey, the Economic Census, and more.