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BACKGROUND: Super Bowl XLVIII will take place on February 1st, 2015 in Glendale, Arizona. In preparation for this large scale public event and related activities, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) was tasked with developing a plan for enhanced surveillance, situational awareness and methods for early detection of public health emergencies and outbreaks.
METHODS: An Epidemiology Work Group was organized and led by MCDPH within the overall Public Health and Medical Resource Work Group which included local, state and federal partners. Monthly meetings were held from July 2014-January 2015 to discuss epidemiologic surveillance activities and develop an operational plan. Epidemiologic surveillance strategies were developed and coordinated to monitor levels of disease activity and provide situational awareness during Pro Bowl (January 25th, 2015), NFL Experience and Super Bowl Central (January 24th, 2015 through February 1st, 2015), and Super Bowl (February 1st). Fiesta Bowl (December 31st, 2014) occurred in the same location as Super Bowl and served as a pilot test for newly developed surveillance strategies.
RESULTS: Surveillance strategies in place included: field surveillance within medical tents at all 4 event sites collecting information on 4 distinct syndromes (gastrointestinal, respiratory, dermatological and neurological) as well as injuries; aberration detection system for illness reported to the state’s notifiable disease surveillance system; an enhanced animal surveillance network; enhanced surveillance alerts sent to healthcare partners including conditions of interest, requesting they ascertain attendance at one of the events of interest, and how to report cases of interest/suspicion; daily Biosense monitoring for the 10 participating facilities; monitoring EMS transports for selected syndromes; aberration detection system for mortality with an all hazards approach; syndromic surveillance in hotels and urgent cares located within a 5 mile radius of the events; influenza-like illness surveillance for sentinel sites; and Poison Control Center call reports. In addition, the NFL clinic provided daily reports to MCDPH. Within the MCDPH Public Health Incident Command Center, the Intelligence Section used this enhanced surveillance information to produce a daily Intelligence Section Report and provide situational awareness. Surveillance strategies were successfully tested during Fiesta Bowl.
CONCLUSIONS: Coordinated enhanced surveillance efforts have increased the response capacity for the public health department and will allow MCDPH to make informed decisions and take actions quickly in the event of a public health emergency.