In its 1994 monograph, “Addressing Emerging Infectious Disease Threats -- A Prevention Strategy for the United States”, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) called for the establishment of provider-based Emerging Infections Sentinel Networks (EISNs) to study conditions that

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are not covered by health department surveillance and are more likely to be seen by specific kinds of health providers.

As such, three provider-based networks have been established through CDC’s EISN cooperative agreement program:
Surveillance network of infectious disease specialists (EIN) Emergency department-based network of academically affiliated emergency departments for research on emerging infectious diseases (EMERGEncy ID Net) Global surveillance network of travel medicine clinics (GeoSentinel) These networks contribute to public health by a) making connections between clinical medicine and public health; b) generating practical information for action; c) building capacity and clinical acumen to detect unusual events; and d) helping clinicians determine when it is appropriate to report cases or findings to the public health system.

Three sentinel networks are currently receiving funds through the EISN program:
IDSA (EIN), Olive View - UCLA (EMERGEncy ID Net) and ISTM (GeoSentinel).

The purpose of this FOA is to continue to fund and assist the awardee in operating a provider-based sentinel network, specifically organized around infectious disease specialists.

This network will contribute to surveillance for emerging infectious disease threats including drug-resistant, foodborne and waterborne, and vaccine-preventable or potentially vaccine-preventable diseases, and will enhance information exchange leading to early identification of and response to trends and outbreaks.

Objectives for the provider-based sentinel network of infectious disease specialists include the following:
To support linked groups of participating individuals or organizations in monitoring a variety of infectious disease problems and enhancing communication and collaboration among network members and the public health community; To serve as readily accessible mechanisms to address urgent public health infectious disease problems; and To improve understanding of specific public health issues and enhance preparedness to meet new infectious disease threats.