Infectious diseases can spread across borders. The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) collects information on binational infectious disease cases and shares it with Mexico. Infectious disease investigation in Arizona is enhanced by using an electronic surveillance platform known as the Medical Electronic Disease Surveillance Intelligence System (MEDSIS), and in 2010 a specific variable for binational cases with Mexico was added to the platform. ADHS also maintains a binational case definition in the state reportable communicable morbidities manual. Arizona partners with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)âs Division of Global Migration and Quarantine (DGMQ), US Mexico Unit (USMU), in a monthly binational case reporting project, and shares information with the Ministry of Health of the State of Sonora, Mexico, (SON MOH) to reinforce ongoing communication, to establish baseline disease patterns, and to help detect binational outbreaks. In 2007, the Ministry of Health of the State of Sonora began to use the MEDSIS system for real-time secure case notification, and secure file sharing, using the Arizonaâs Health Services Portal and secure e-mail accounts for confidential communication between both states.
Objective:
To describe 5 years of binational infectious disease surveillance using the binational variable in the medical electronic surveillance system in Arizona.