eCR Team Provides Rapid Support for Mpox Virus Reporting

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By sending patient data quickly between healthcare and public health, electronic case reporting (eCR) can provide the timely and complete data needed during an outbreak. The nationwide expansion of eCR is a joint collaboration among CDC, the Council for State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE), and the Association for Public Health Laboratories (APHL). eCR’s scalable infrastructure allows for rapid response as new outbreaks arise. Through data modernization investments and lessons learned from the COVID-19 response, the eCR team pivoted to rapidly support the mpox virus response in the United States.

The collaborative eCR team began working with the electronic health record industry to support the mpox outbreak on June 9, 2022. In just four days, many healthcare facilities were able to send mpox patient case reports electronically to state and local public health agencies.

As of August 22, 2022, there are 7,254 healthcare facilities that can use eCR to send mpox virus case reports electronically (shown in blue on the map below).

As of August 22, 2022, there are 7,254 healthcare facilities that can use eCR to send monkeypox virus case reports electronically,

Data modernization improvements also enabled state and local public health agencies to receive mpox case report data electronically using eCR. Forty-five (45) state and local public health agencies can receive mpox virus case reports as of August 22, 2022 (shown in green on the map below).

Forty-five (45) state and local public health agencies can receive monkeypox virus case reports as of August 22, 2022.

The number of healthcare facilities that can report mpox virus cases electronically through eCR and the number of public health agencies that can receive the data using eCR continue to grow. As the eCR mpox virus support expands nationwide, state, local, and territorial public health agencies (PHAs) can use the electronic case reports to better understand the outbreak and determine appropriate actions to control it. Efforts are also underway to connect both tribal healthcare and tribal public health authorities to eCR. PHAs also share the electronic case reports with CDC as anonymized cases through the National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System.

The eCR team’s quick response to the mpox virus outbreak highlights the importance of collaboration among partners. A core program supporting the CDC Data Modernization Initiative, eCR is enhancing case surveillance for both routine and emergency responses by providing data that are timelier, richer, and more complete than manual case reporting, while reducing burden on healthcare and public health.