Surveillance Metrics and Progress Towards National Reporting Goals: Cholera, Vibriosis, Listeriosis, and Typhoid and Paratyphoid Fever, 2011

BACKGROUND:   At the CSTE Annual Meeting in 2012, surveillance metrics and national reporting goals were proposed for three enhanced, national enteric disease surveillance systems--the Cholera and Other Vibrio Illness Surveillance (COVIS) system for cholera and vibriosis, the Listeria Initiative (LI) for listeriosis, and the National Typhoid and Paratyphoid Fever Surveillance (NTPFS) for typhoid and paratyphoid fever.   The metrics focus on reporting timeliness and completeness and were chosen in light of information needed for public health action, including information necessary for outbreak detection, investigation, and risk factor analysis.  Current year metrics (2011) and progress towards proposed 2-year (2014) national reporting goals are presented. 

METHODS:   Reporting timeliness is defined as the proportion of reports completed within 31 days of specimen isolation date (COVIS and NTPFS) or as the proportion of interviews reported to CDC within 7 days of interview date and the proportion of clinical isolates uploaded to PulseNet within 14 days of specimen collection date (LI).  Selected variables for each section of the case report for each system were used to assess completeness.  In COVIS and NTPFS, reporting completeness was defined as the proportion of reports with specific demographic, clinical, and epidemiologic information (recreational water, seafood consumption, and seafood traceback information in COVIS; travel destination, typhoid vaccination information in NTPFS).  In LI, reporting completeness is defined as the proportion of reports using the standardized LI questionnaire and the proportion of reports with “complete” food history (consumption information on six select items).   

RESULTS:   COVIS and NTPFS met the 2014 goals for reporting timeliness of 85% of reports received within 31 days of specimen isolation date, however, LI reporting timeliness needs improvement (19% in 2011 compared to 2014 goal of 70%).  Reporting completeness in all three systems need improvement, in particular COVIS seafood traceback information (21% in 2011 compared to 2014 goal of 35%), NTPFS vaccine type information (46% in 2011 compared to 2014 goal of 85%), and LI food history information (83% in 2011 compared to 2014 goal of 95%).

CONCLUSIONS:   Timely reporting to these systems, particularly LI, is important because these data are used to investigate clusters and for other time-sensitive public health actions and reports.  Complete reporting is important because the enhanced epidemiologic data, including recreational water exposure, seafood consumption, and seafood traceback information (COVIS), travel and vaccination status (NTPFS), and food consumption history (LI), are not captured in any other national surveillance system and are needed to inform prevention activities.