title: The U.S.-Mexico Border Infectious Disease Surveillance project: establishing bi-national border surveillance.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: 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
authors.forename: Michelle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Weinberg
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Waterman
authors.forename: Carlos Alvarez
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Lucas
authors.forename: Veronica Carrion
authors.initials: VC
authors.lastname: Falcon
authors.forename: Pablo Kuri
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Morales
authors.forename: Luis Anaya
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Peter
authors.forename: Alejandro Escobar
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
authors.forename: Ernesto Ramirez
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Flisser
authors.forename: Ralph
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bryan
authors.forename: Enrique Navarro
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Valle
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
authors.forename: Gerardo Alvarez
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.forename: Cecilia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rosales
authors.forename: Javier Arias
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Ortiz
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Landen
authors.forename: Hugo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vilchis
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rawlings
authors.forename: Francisco Lopez
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Leal
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ortega
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Flagg
authors.forename: Roberto Tapia
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Conyer
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cetron
mesh_terms: 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