The national web-based outbreak rapid alert system in Norway: eight years of experience, 2006–2013

In 2005, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health established a web-based outbreak rapid alert system called Vesuv. The system is used for mandatory outbreak alerts from municipal medical officers, healthcare institutions, and food safety authorities. As of 2013, 1426 outbreaks have been reported, i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Epidemiology and infection 2016-01, Vol.144 (1), p.215-224
Main Authors: GUZMAN-HERRADOR, B., VOLD, L., BERG, T., BERGLUND, T. M., HEIER, B., KAPPERUD, G., LANGE, H., NYGÅRD, K.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Communicable Diseases - epidemiology
Communicable Diseases - microbiology
Cross Infection - epidemiology
Cross Infection - microbiology
Disease Outbreaks
Disease prevention
Drinking Water
Epidemics
Epidemiological Monitoring
Food safety
Foodborne Diseases - epidemiology
Foodborne Diseases - microbiology
Governors
Infections
Infectious diseases
Internet
Norway - epidemiology
Original Papers
Population Surveillance
Public health
Regulation
Surveillance
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Summary:In 2005, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health established a web-based outbreak rapid alert system called Vesuv. The system is used for mandatory outbreak alerts from municipal medical officers, healthcare institutions, and food safety authorities. As of 2013, 1426 outbreaks have been reported, involving 32913 cases. More than half of the outbreaks occurred in healthcare institutions (759 outbreaks, 53·2%). A total of 474 (33·2%) outbreaks were associated with food or drinking water. The web-based rapid alert system has proved to be a helpful tool by enhancing reporting and enabling rapid and efficient information sharing between different authorities at both the local and national levels. It is also an important tool for event-based reporting, as required by the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005. Collecting information from all the outbreak alerts and reports in a national database is also useful for analysing trends, such as occurrence of certain microorganisms, places or sources of infection, or route of transmission. This can facilitate the identification of specific areas where more general preventive measures are needed.
ISSN:0950-2688
1469-4409
DOI:10.1017/S095026881500093X