Since the majority of emerging infectious diseases over the past several decades have been zoonotic, animal health surveillance is now recognized as a key element in predicting public health risks. Surveillance of animal populations can provide important early warnings of emerging threats to human populations from bioterrorism or naturally occurring infectious disease epidemics. This study investigated current animal data collection and surveillance systems, isolated major gaps in state and national surveillance capabilities, and provided recommendations to fill those gaps.

Drug overdoses are an increasingly serious problem in the United States and worldwide. The CDC estimates that 47,055 drug overdose deaths occurred in the United States in 2014, 61% of which involved opioids (including heroin, pain relievers such as oxycodone, and synthetics).1 Overdose deaths involving opioids increased 3-fold from 2000 to 2014.1 These statistics motivate public health to identify emerging trends in overdoses, including geographic, demographic, and behavioral patterns (e.g., which combinations of drugs are involved).

The Bureau of Communicable Disease (BCD) at the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene performs daily automated analyses using SaTScan to detect spatio-temporal clusters for 37 reportable diseases. Initially, we analyzed one address per patient, prioritizing home address if available. On September 25, 2015, a BCD investigator noticed two legionellosis cases with similar work addresses. A third case was identified in a nearby residential facility, and an investigation was initiated to identify a common exposure source.