Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity (ELC) Cooperative Agreement Program
Funding Initiated In 1995

FY05 Funding July 1, 2005 through December 31, 2005 - $830,111

Activities Proposed for FY 05

Antimicrobial Resistance, Foodborne Disease, Hepatitis Prevention and Control, Influenza Surveillance and Response, National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS), West Nile Virus, and General Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity

Key Performance Indicators

Antimicrobial Resistance

• The completeness of monthly reporting by sentinel laboratories will be assessed.

Foodborne Disease

• Increase in the number of PulseNet certifications (Target: 2 new certifications).
• Active participation in CalicNet as demonstrated by number of sequence uploads.
• Standard operating procedures for molecular detection of organisms follow LRN or DCD protocols.
• Increase the number of pathogens for which PCR assays for stool and food samples are developed.

Hepatitis Prevention and Control

• Convene one meeting to streamline the process for collaborative data collection and reporting with counties that are conducting hepatitis C surveillance.
• Respond to requests and identify opportunities to conduct presentations on hepatitis C epidemiology at conferences, trainings, and other community-based events.
• Improve lab reports by continuing electronic reporting (Quest Labs) and follow up calls.
• Collaborate with Hep C Connection in updating and distributing a directory of services in Colorado.

Influenza Surveillance and Response

• Numbers of sentinel providers and sentinel schools reporting surveillance data weekly.
• Electronic dissemination of weekly surveillance summaries during the influenza season.
• Weekly submission year-round of electronic Influenza Like Illness data.
• Number of specimens tested by influenza RT-PCR and the correlation with viral culture results.

National Electronic Disease Surveillance System

• Development of direct electronic data exchanges between sources of data (such as health care providers or laboratories) and public health agencies.

West Nile Virus

• More than 80% of bird and mosquito specimens are tested within 1 week of collection.
• Animal surveillance data and human cases are reported to Arbonet a minimum of once per week.
• Compare sentinel site mosquito data to test data from mosquito pools collected and submitted randomly by local agencies.
• Post-season utilize BRFSS surveillance to determine message penetration and acceptance.
• Compare rates of preventative methods used in 2005 versus reported rates during the 2003 transmission season.

General Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity

• Assess the timeliness and completeness of communicable disease reports to the web-based disease reporting system (CEDRS).
• The numbers and types of enhancements to the web-based disease reporting system (CEDRS).

Contact Information and Links

Ken Gershman, MD, MPH
CHIEF, Communicable Disease Epidemiology Program
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
4300 Cherry Creek Drive
South Denver, CO 80246-1530

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment: http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/