Surveillance >

Enhanced Surveillance Project (ESP)

CDC is working with state and local health departments and information system contractors to develop real-time special event syndromic surveillance and analytical methods. During special events, CDC Enhanced Surveillance Projects (ESP) monitor sentinel hospital emergency department visit data to establish syndrome baseline and threshold. Aberration detection models developed and analyzed at CDC identify deviations in visit data and report to state and local health departments for confirmation and appropriate epidemiological follow-up. ESP has been tested at the World Trade Organization Ministerial in Seattle, the Republican and Democratic National Conventions held in Philadelphia and Los Angeles, respectively, and the Super Bowl/Gasparilla Festival in Tampa, Florida. CDC will continue development and evaluation of ESP, in order to provide guidance and resources to state and local health departments for implementation of local real-time surveillance systems.