Disease surveillance and detection are crucial weapons in the fight against newly emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, and public health professionals represent our "front line" of defense.  We often depend on the astute clinician to notice a deviation from the normal disease background.   While most developed countries have a surveillance system in place and the ability to detect and diagnose diseases, many developing countries—where most of the global population resides—do not have an adequate infrastructure to support such activities.  In those locations, there is no substitute for perceptive local medical staff. 

The plant and animal health communities face similar challenges regarding the need to develop and implement technologies for disease surveillance and detection to ensure a timely response to natural disease outbreaks, as well as to the threat of intentionally introduced disease(s).

Technological advances in disease detection, bioinformatics, and systems approaches to regional syndromic surveillance (ie., ESSENCE II) have contributed to public health surveillance and disease diagnostics. Disease diagnosis, defined as the identification of the cause of a disease, is "the cornerstone of effective disease control and prevention efforts, including surveillance."

The Institute of Medicine's Forum on Microbial Threats discussed these issues at a 2-day public workshop on December 12-13, 2006, entitled “Infectious Disease Surveillance and Detection: Assessing the Challenges - Finding Solutions.” 

See the workshop agenda for the presentations given during the workshop.