- It's time for "Health Heroes," the game show where you guess what our special guest does for their public health job.

And we all know that... - [audience] Public health is the science of healthy communities!

- You betcha.

- By encouraging a healthy lifestyle, researching diseases, and promoting injury prevention, public health experts protect us all.

Today's contestants are Connor, Olivia, and Lily.

Welcome everyone.

And our expert, please introduce yourself and give us our first hint.

Which of the five foundational building blocks of public health do you work in?

- Hi, I'm Dr.

Emily, and my work supports the communicable disease control pillar of public health.

- Welcome.

Okay, Connor, you get the first question.

- Do you sit at a desk?

Sometimes I'm at my desk, but other times I'm out in the community talking with people.

- When you go out, what do you talk to people about?

- Great question.

If I'm out in the community, I'm usually teaching people how to protect themselves from diseases.

When I'm at my desk, I'm investigating diseases that spread from person to person, from animals to people, or from bugs to people.

- Investigating?

Are you like a disease detective?

- I am like a disease detective.

- Do we have ourselves a regular public health Sherlock Holmes?

Hmm?

- I am a bit like Sherlock Holmes.

I investigate outbreaks, identify why someone might be at risk of getting sick, and then make plans to keep everyone healthy and safe.

- That sounds like a lot of work.

How do you do all that?

- Well, my background is in veterinary science, so I study when animals and bugs spread diseases and how we can stop them from making you, your neighbor, and even your animals sick.

Sometimes these diseases affect pets like cats and dogs, and sometimes they affect farm animals like cows or chickens.

- How do you investigate where diseases come from?

- We collect a lot of data when we find an unusual disease or an outbreak of an illness.

So one thing we do is work backwards.

Who here has ever lost a toy and had to retrace your steps to find it?

[cheerful music] Well, it's kind of like that.

We follow the disease's steps all the way back to where it started to find out who it made sick and how.

- You know what that means, investigation time is up, friends, and now it's time to guess that public health hero.

Contestants, write down your answers.

Can you guess what Dr.

Emily does for her public health job?

[contemplative music] [guesses dinging] That is correct.

Dr.

Emily, tell us what an epidemiologist does.

- An epidemiologist is a public health professional who studies the patterns, causes and effects of diseases and other health-related conditions in communities.

But I don't just study people.

Public health epidemiologists work with the whole community, from people to animals to insects, to keep everyone safe.

That's what we call the one health concept.

When there is an outbreak of an illness and a lot of people are sick, or even when there's an unusual illness we don't usually see, we work backwards and investigate who is sick right now and who or what made that person sick.

Then we put a plan in place to stop other people from getting sick.

Sometimes that's encouraging people to wash their hands or get a vaccine, and other times it's wearing bug spray or not eating certain foods.

Public health epidemiologists work with the whole community to keep everyone safe.

[bug buzzing] - And that's our show folks.

See you next time on "Health Heroes."

Farewell Friends, and don't forget, wash your hands.

[audience applauding] [cheerful music]