BioSense is a national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) initiative to improve the nation's capabilities for early event detection and situational awareness. BioSense data includes Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs ambulatory care diagnoses and procedures, as well as Laboratory Corporation of America lab test orders. The data are collected, assigned to syndromes based upon definitions developed by a multi-agency working group, analyzed using several detection algorithms, and displayed in various visualizations [2,3]. BioIntelligence Center (BIC) staff at CDC monitors BioSense national data on a daily basis and are available to support state and local public health officials’ monitoring and investigations [3]. As part of its ongoing bioterrorism surveillance, the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (NJDHSS) reviews the BioSense application for syndrome activity and disease alerts of potential public health importance. In November, 2004, staff noted a Sentinel Infection Alert for Smallpox two days before the Thanksgiving holiday. The investigation of this Sentinel Alert by NJDHSS was the first Sentinel Alert follow-up investigation by a state health department and helped state and CDC colleagues identify ways to enhance BioSense.
Objective:
This paper describes a situation in November, 2004, regarding a Sentinel Infection Alert for Smallpox that appeared in the BioSense application.