The primary mission of public health is to safeguard the community's health. Tarrant County Public Health Division of Epidemiology and Health Information works to understand the causes and effects of disease in Tarrant County residents. We investigate notifiable conditions and emerging disease to identify factors and relationships that determine the presence, numbers, trends and distribution of diseases.  With this knowledge we can more effectively safeguard the community’s health and respond to outbreaks of disease. It’s a 24/7/365 job. Some of the disease threats in Tarrant County are relatively new. Other diseases were around before there was a Tarrant County. And other diseases are just a plane ride away.