Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Role of Syndromic Surveillance in the Developing World

Despite impressive advancements in diagnostic and treatment technologies, infectious diseases still cause a significant amount of mortality and morbidity throughout the world due to the unpredictable and inevitable rise of new or previously dormant pathogens. Emerging infectious disease (EID) outbreaks are mainly associated with changes in physical environment and human behavioral activities, and disproportionately affect developing countries. Syndromic surveillance, while challenged in developing countries by inadequate communication and public health infrastructure, could build on pre-existing systems to complement existing governmental and non-governmental programs for outbreak detection and offers a promising avenue to detect EID events earlier in the course of an outbreak.