Biosurveillance is the continuous collection, organization, and analysis of data to achieve early detection of new outbreaks of diseases. As such, it can help limit the spread of naturally occurring diseases, such as influenza, by quickly bringing outbreaks to the attention of public health officials. It can also aide in the fight against bioterrorism by helping to diagnose rare diseases, such as inhalation anthrax and smallpox. We are currently developing a
biosurveillance system for influenza for the Navy and Marine Corps Public Health Center (PHC). The system, called the PHC Miner, will use demographic, pharmacy, lab, and ICD9 data to flag potential influenza cases in the Navy’s worldwide network of medical clinics.
