In February 2003, the first cases of SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) were reported in Asia.  Within a few months, it had traversed the globe, spreading to more than two dozen countries on four continents killing 774 of the 8,098 people it infected.  Even though the SARS outbreak
was contained, it served as a grim reminder that in the modern world, a weakness in the surveillance system for infectious diseases in any one country – is a risk to all countries.

Current globalization trends and the resurgence of disease pandemics underscore the need for a coordinated and connected system to detect and respond to emerging, and
re-emerging, infectious diseases as close to the source as possible. Global disease detection supports the requirements of the newly revised International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 by building local, regional, and global public health infrastructure in resource-constrained countries.

CDC’s Global Disease Detection Program (GDD)
GDD is CDC’s principal and most visible program for developing and strengthening global capacity to rapidly detect, accurately identify, and promptly contain emerging infectious disease and bioterrorist threats that occur internationally. GDD protects the health of Americans and the global community from the spread of infectious disease threats by collaboratively building a global network of public health assets in support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and IHR.

GDD represents a major U.S. contribution to a global system of disease protection through:

A Clear Mandate: Based on experience with SARS, Congress provided CDC
with funding in 2004 to, “…mitigate the consequences of a catastrophic public health event, whether by an intentional act of terrorism, or the natural emergence of a deadly infectious virus…” Congress, 2004

Global Coverage: A central focus of GDD is the establishment and expansion of GDD Regional Centers, particularly in resource-constrained locations. CDC operates GDD Centers in 1) Thailand, 2) Kenya, 3) Guatemala, 4) China, 5) Egypt, and 6) Kazakhstan. In Fiscal Year 2009, India was selected as the seventh country to host a GDD regional Center. Centers collectively build global economies of scale to combat today’s complex emerging infectious disease threats by leveraging and connecting assets.

Capacity Building: GDD closes a critical gap between IHR expectations for member states and the ability of most member states to meet these expectations. The program invests in training host country nationals and building national laboratory capacity in coordination with ministries of health that are critical to reducing the timeline for identification and control of emerging infectious diseases. Centers serve as regional resources to assist the host country and neighboring countries detect and confirm pathogens closer to the source.

Expertise includes:

• Emerging infectious disease detection and response     
• Training in field epidemiology and laboratory methods
• Pandemic influenza preparedness and response
• Zoonotic disease investigation and control
• Health communication and information technology
• Laboratory systems and biosafety

2008/2009 Fact Sheets

• Overview
• GDD Monitoring and Evaluation Report (2006-2008)
• Accomplishments
• GDD Core Capacities
• GDD and the International Health Regulations (IHR)
• GDD Operations Center
• GDD At A Glance for 2008.

 

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