title: Biosurveillance: a review and update.
abstract: Since the terrorist attacks and anthrax release in 2001, almost $32 billion has been allocated to biodefense and biosurveillance in the USA alone. Surveillance in health care refers to the continual systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of data. When attempting to detect agents of bioterrorism, surveillance can occur in several ways. Syndromic surveillance occurs by monitoring clinical manifestations of certain illnesses. Laboratory surveillance occurs by looking for certain markers or laboratory data, and environmental surveillance is the process by which the ambient air or environment is continually sampled for the presence of biological agents. This paper focuses on the ways by which we detect bioterrorism agents and the effectiveness of these systems.
authors.affiliation: Ohio Task Force 1-FEMA Urban Search and Rescue, Department of Emergency Medicine, The Ohio State University Medical Center, 4813 Cramblett Hall, 456 West Tenth Avenue, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
authors.forename: Nicholas E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Kman
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Bachmann