Public Health is charged with protecting the health of a particular population. Among other activities, this requires surveillance functions, the capacity to lead the fight against specific disease outbreaks, and the ability to participate effectively in a multi-modal response to major health emergencies. Out of surveillance flows the ability to issue alerts about health threats to public healt...

CONTEXT The exchange of health information on the Internet has been heralded as an opportunity to improve public health surveillance. In a field that has traditionally relied on an established system of mandatory and voluntary reporting of known infectious diseases by doctors and laboratories to governmental agencies, innovations in social media and so-called user-generated information could le...

Introduction Public health surveillance practice is evolving rapidly. In the past decade we have witnessed the globalization of health threats, the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases, and an explosion of easily accessible new technologies. This fluid environment challenges the public health community, but also provides it with a unique and fertile environment to innovate and impr...