Wiley Handbook of Science and Technology for Homeland Security, 4 Volume Set

BIOSURVEILLANCE TRADECRAFT

JAMES M. WILSON AND CRAIG KIEBLER

Georgetown University Medical Center, Argus Research Operations Center, Imaging Science and Information Systems Center, Washington, D.C.

RONALD A. WALTERS

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, D.C.

JOHN DAVIES-COLE

Center for Policy, Planning and Epidemiology, DC Department of Health, Washington, D.C.

1 INTRODUCTION

The term “biosurveillance” is not currently associated with a universally accepted definition [1]. For the purposes of this article, we consider the definition of biosurveillance to be the detection and tracking of biological events that represent a deviation of what is considered normal endemic baseline. A “biological event” refers to disease events affecting humans, animals, and/or plants; here we focus primarily on biological events affecting humans or animals. The prospect of rapid detection of socially disruptive biological events that are triggered through natural, accidental, or intentional mechanisms is of interest not only to the public health community but to the agricultural, law enforcement, intelligence, and homeland security communities as well.

From a public health perspective, biosurveillance must embrace grounded public health surveillance methodology as well as near-real-time situational awareness (i.e. event detection). The public health community has traditionally focused on health-related information such as patient care, disease reporting, and diagnostic information. ...