General bacterial, protozoal and viral outbreaks of infectious intestinal disease, 2019

ObSurv is the surveillance system established in 1996 for all general outbreaks of Infectious Intestinal Disease (IID) in Scotland.

For the purpose of ObSurv an outbreak is defined as an incident in which two or more linked cases experience the same illness or when the observed number of cases unaccountably exceeds the expected number. 

The system seeks information on general outbreaks, defined as outbreaks affecting members of more than one household or residents of an institution. This system does not include outbreaks were infection is believed to have been acquired overseas. These overseas outbreaks are reported separately. ​​​