ABSTRACT
The final section of the book focuses on waterborne disease transmission outside of detected or detectable “outbreaks.” As has already been noted in the general introduction to this book, waterborne disease is among the top rank of disease burden globally and this burden of disease is concentrated on children and the poor. A common theme that emerged from several of the chapters in this section is that a large proportion, and probably the vast majority, of waterborne disease burden arises outside of detected outbreaks. This statement contrasts with the view, predominant until only a few years ago and still periodically heard, that the failure to detect outbreaks of waterborne disease illustrates that this route of disease transmission is largely conquered in industrialized countries.
