Seminole County health official briefs Sanford commissioners on rising communicable disease cases, WIC growth and sheltering role
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Summary
A Seminole County Health Department representative updated the Sanford City Commission on increases in communicable disease investigations, expanded WIC enrollment, a pending transfer of septic permitting to the state and the county health department's role in special‑needs sheltering and dental services.
Dr. Johnson, a representative of the Seminole County Health Department, told the Sanford City Commission on July 28 that the county has seen increases in communicable disease investigations and is expanding enrollment in federally funded nutrition services.
The presentation highlighted four statutorily required public‑health functions — communicable disease control, environmental public health, community health and preparedness — and detailed local service sites including an Airport Boulevard clinic, an environmental health office and a warehouse in Sanford that houses vaccine inventory and preparedness staff, Dr. Johnson said.
Why it matters: Rising infectious‑disease counts and changes to septic permitting could affect local health services, permitting steps for some property owners and public preparedness during hurricanes.
Dr. Johnson said the department recorded roughly a 10.5% increase in communicable‑disease investigations and about a 17% increase in confirmed or probable cases in the latest fiscal year. He said about 137 cases were related to rabies investigations, and that the county — which typically sees three or four rabid animals annually — recorded four cases between January and March.
The department also reported larger numbers of pertussis (whooping cough) cases than in recent years: none or one in 2021 versus 27–28 last year, Dr. Johnson said. Mosquito‑borne illnesses have also risen regionally: the county recorded about seven dengue cases last year and its first locally acquired West Nile case, he said.
On nutrition programs, Dr. Johnson said the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program serves about 3,500 unduplicated clients per month at the Airport Boulevard location and roughly 3,500 at the Casselberry storefront. He said the department increased enrollment of pregnant women in Seminole County by about 17% over the past 18 months, and overall WIC‑eligible enrollment has risen about 44% since February 2022.
Environmental health items included a note that the department regulates higher‑risk food entities (long‑term care facilities, schools) and public pools, and that the local septic permitting program is expected to transfer from the Department of Health to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. “That transfer is supposed to be finalized in July,” Dr. Johnson said, adding that the operational details of that change were not yet clear.
On preparedness, Dr. Johnson said public‑health staff operate the county’s special‑needs shelters during hurricanes. He described those shelters as locations for residents who depend on electricity or oxygen or who have mobility or similar medical needs; they are not hospital replacements. The department ran a full‑scale shelter exercise at Bentley and then activated for Hurricane Milton, he said, and recorded about 96 clients at the special‑needs shelter during the most recent response.
Other services noted included a Title X family‑planning program (long‑acting contraception), a dental program focused on children that provided services to 703 students last year and delivered roughly 4,000 individual services, and mobile‑clinic outreach. Dr. Johnson also cited a health‑literacy class operated with Seminole State College and other community partnerships.
Commissioners asked about vaccination patterns. Dr. Johnson said statewide immunization data are publicly available through Florida CHARTS and that the county has seen a decline in some vaccines following COVID but is also seeing increased demand for school‑entry vaccines this summer and a successful Tdap (pertussis booster) clinic at two middle schools with lower coverage rates.
Dr. Johnson closed by noting the department’s community partnerships, including a weekly food pantry in coordination with the Sharing Center, and offered to provide contact information for follow‑up.
Ending: The presentation was delivered during the commission’s presentations segment; commissioners did not vote on related items during the meeting.
