BACKGROUND: Prior to 2013, reporting of animal rabies testing results by the state laboratory to the Bureaus of Communicable Disease (BCD) and Environmental Services (BES) had not changed in 20 years. Test results would be filled out on carbon paper by the Bureau of Clinical Laboratories (BCL) and mailed to each bureau, in addition to phone calls reporting results that were positive or unsatisfactory to each bureau and the submitter. Results were logged by BCD in multiple spreadsheets and papers were filed. In recent years, summary reports were entered weekly into the Alabama National Electronic Disease Surveillance System (NEDSS) Base System (ALNBS) for submission to CDC.
METHODS: Beginning in 2012, processes within each of the three bureaus were reviewed. Steps for intervention and modernization were targeted: 1) Lab results manually entered by the BCD in multiple spreadsheets and an Access database 2) Environmentalists in the BES were called with positive or unsatisfactory results, but not negative results. 3) Summary reports of the positive animals were entered into ALNBS weekly for CDC notification 4) The map of animals that tested positive for rabies was updated periodically, by tediously shading counties in a shape file and changing number counts, before converting and posting to the website.
RESULTS: As of December 2015: 1) All results for animal rabies tests conducted at the BCL are electronically transmitted directly from the laboratory information management system (LIMS) to the ALNBS in an electronic lab report (ELR) message 2) Environmentalists receive emails for each completed animal rabies test 3) Investigations and CDC Notifications are automatically created for each positive result 4) The map is automatically updated on the Website each day to show all positive animals identified by county and species for the year.
CONCLUSIONS: Alabama’s NEDSS Base System (ALNBS), with its ELR capabilities, proved to be an invaluable tool in reducing man hours and time delays throughout the notification process (lab to environmentalists, lab to BCD, BCD to CDC, and BCD to the public).