The U.S.-Mexico Border Infectious Disease Surveillance project: establishing bi-national border surveillance.
In 1997, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Mexican Secretariat of Health, and border health officials began the development of the Border Infectious Disease Surveillance (BIDS) project, a surveillance system for infectious diseases along the U.S.-Mexico border. During a 3-year period, a binational team implemented an active, sentinel surveillance system for hepatitis and febrile exanthems at 13 clinical sites. The network developed surveillance protocols, trained nine surveillance coordinators, established serologic testing at four Mexican border laboratories, and created agreements for data sharing and notification of selected diseases and outbreaks. BIDS facilitated investigations of dengue fever in Texas-Tamaulipas and measles in California-Baja California. BIDS demonstrates that a binational effort with local, state, and federal participation can create a regional surveillance system that crosses an international border. Reducing administrative, infrastructure, and political barriers to cross-border public health collaboration will enhance the effectiveness of disease prevention projects such as BIDS.
Weinberg
Michelle
M
Division of Global Migration and Quarantine, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1600 Clifton Road, Mailstop E03, Atlanta, GA 30333, USA. mpw5@cdc.gov
Waterman
Stephen
S
Lucas
Carlos Alvarez
CA
Falcon
Veronica Carrion
VC
Morales
Pablo Kuri
PK
Lopez
Luis Anaya
LA
Peter
Chris
C
Gutiérrez
Alejandro Escobar
AE
Gonzalez
Ernesto Ramirez
ER
Flisser
Ana
A
Bryan
Ralph
R
Valle
Enrique Navarro
EN
Rodriguez
Alfonso
A
Hernandez
Gerardo Alvarez
GA
Rosales
Cecilia
C
Ortiz
Javier Arias
JA
Landen
Michael
M
Vilchis
Hugo
H
Rawlings
Julie
J
Leal
Francisco Lopez
FL
Ortega
Luis
L
Flagg
Elaine
E
Conyer
Roberto Tapia
RT
Cetron
Martin
M
D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D005076:Exanthema / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D005334:Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D006525:Hepatitis, Viral, Human / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D016730:Program Development; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology