Arizona is facing multiple public health threats from arboviral diseases. State and local public health departments are monitoring two mosquito-borne outbreaks within its borders and two in adjacent territories. To prevent transmission, viremic patients must be identified in a timely manner and encouraged to avoid additional mosquito exposure and vector control actions must be implemented. Using traditional surveillance, however, health departments may not be alerted until the laboratory confirms and reports a positive result, which may take up to 14 days after specimen collection. The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) partnered with local public health jurisdictions to enhance traditional arboviral surveillance by incorporating syndromic surveillance.
Objective
To develop a protocol for enhancing traditional arboviral surveillance with syndromic surveillance and to evaluate the protocol for accuracy, effectiveness, and timeliness