Opportunities and Challenges in the Evidence-Informed Design of an Educational Escape Game for Veterinary Public Health Education Using Food-Borne Outbreak Investigation Data

Abstract

Food-borne outbreak management is a core competency in veterinary public health curricula. We developed an immersive, team-based educational escape game informed by evidence from documented food-borne outbreaks, designed to train veterinary students in health alert management. The scenario simulates a food-borne outbreak after a corporate cocktail reception and leads participants through successive parts of investigation: analytical epidemiology, selection and interpretation of microbiological tests, official-style inspection of a catering facility, and formulation of corrective and preventive measures. The targeted pathogen selected was Campylobacter spp. because of its major public health importance and relative underrepresentation in early veterinary curricula. The epidemiological data set was parameterized to support a staged learning progression using two successive case series and a rapid case–control framework. Symptom distributions, incubation periods, and plausible noise sources were incorporated to reflect common limitations of real outbreak investigations and to encourage critical interpretation of evidence. Visual inspection materials and forward-flow principles were developed to strengthen realism. The resulting game provides a coherent learning environment where students must integrate multiple sources of evidence, work collaboratively under time constraints, and justify decisions in conditions that approximate real outbreak investigations. By translating scientific and surveillance data into an interactive pedagogical format, the approach promotes active learning while maintaining epidemiological plausibility and professional relevance. This article details the rationale underpinning these design choices, discusses educational implications within a veterinary public health–compatible perspective, and highlights limitations and trade-offs required to translate complex outbreak situations into a time-limited learning activity.