We describe the implementation of an automated infectious disease surveillance system that uses data collected from 210 microbiologic laboratories throughout the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in France. Each week, these facilities report bacterial species that have been isolated from patients in their area. An alarm is triggered whenever the case count for a bacterial species infection exceeds 2 SDs of the historical mean for that species at the participating laboratory. At its inception in July 2013, the system monitored 611 bacterial species. During July 1, 2013-March 20, 2016, weekly analyses of incoming surveillance data generated 34 alarms signaling possible infectious disease outbreaks; after investigation, 14 (41%) of these alarms resulted in health alerts declared by the regional health authority. We are currently improving the system by developing an Internet-based surveillance platform and extending our surveillance to include more laboratories in the region.
Keywords: France; PACA; PACASurvE; Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur; bacteria; biosurveillance; epidemiologic surveillance system; epidemiology; infectious diseases; microbiology laboratories.