Public Health Surveillance System: Infectious Diseases

Introduction

Infectious diseases have been a huge health burden in the global history of mankind. New emerging disease such as Corona virus disease (COVID-19), Ebola, H5N1 and H7N9 avian influenza viruses, and the Middle East respiratory syndrome corona virus along with emergence of drug resistance in pathogens causing infectious disease like tuberculosis and malaria are the major causes for morbidity and mortality worldwide (Fauci, A.S., 2001). A competent surveillance system is a powerful tool that can play a dynamic role in controlling and monitoring the outbreak of infectious diseases. The results of the surveillance system result in the establishment of new public health policies that may be useful in protecting public health. The surveillance system is a basic tool in understanding the burden of a disease over time, detect changes in disease outbreaks, determine risk factors for the disease and populations at greatest risk, guide immediate public health actions for individual patients or the community and thus formulate policies for the effective control measures for preventing the infectious diseases and other epidemics. The surveillance method for the controlling of diseases was first time applied by William Farr and Wales from the General Registrar’s Office of England and Wales in the mid-1800s where they collected morbidity data from few communities in other countries (Thacker, S. B., 2000; Brachman, 2009). In 1878, the Public Health Service of the United States collected the morbidity data due to plague, yellow fever, cholera, and smallpox (Langmuir, A. D., 1963; Thacker, S. B., & Berkelman, R. L., 1988). In this period, surveillance system covered communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases, bioterrorism trials, immunizations, and other health care delivery (Thacker, S. B., 2000; Brachman, 2009). In 1961, all of the data related to the morbidity of infectious diseases was moved to the communicable disease center currently known as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Atlanta, Georgia.