ProMED and HealthMap: Collaboration to improve emerging disease surveillance

摘要

Unofficial or informal sources (also called “rumors” or “unstructured data”) of emerging disease outbreaks such as media reports and firsthand accounts have become an important mechanism for detecting these outbreaks. These sources are disseminated by a variety of human-based and automated biosurveillance networks that are now routinely monitored by public health authorities at all levels. The 2005 revisions to the International Health Regulations recognize that these sources often appear in advance of official notification of disease threats and are important in allowing the timely response to emerging diseases.