Disease surveillance is the ongoing monitoring and analysis of health data to detect, track, and respond to the spread of infectious diseases, in order to protect human and animal health.
The true burden of rabies is often underestimated due to inadequate surveillance systems. Establishing a rabies surveillance system allows for the data collected to be used to monitor the frequency and distribution of rabies cases, allowing the project management team to direct the dog vaccination strategy effectively and assess its impact. Robust data collection and aggregation tools are therefore crucial to generating value from surveillance efforts.
This section will detail the core components of rabies surveillance in the field and how to implement them.