Security threats and the recent emergence of avian influenza in Europe have heightened the profile of and need for a good surveillance strategy during such events. The two main rationales for enhanced infectious disease surveillance at mass events include a perceived increased risk of infectious disease events and a need to detect and respond to events more quickly. Moreover, the requirements of the International Health Regulations (IHR) issued by the World Health Organization (WHO), which take effect in mid-2007, define the need for timely reporting of infectious diseases during international mass events [1]. Therefore, an enhanced surveillance, based on Germany’s pre-existing system of mandatory notifications was conducted in the12 World Cup cities.
Objective
In this abstract, we describe the major findings of an evaluation of our enhanced infectious disease surveillance activities during the FIFA Soccer World Cup 2006 in Germany.