WHO Releases Interim Epi Surveillance Standards for Flu

The World Health Organization (WHO) has released Interim Global Epidemiological Surveillance Standards for Influenza for review and comment until October 31, 2012. This document contains the WHO interim global standards for influenza surveillance that have been created over the course of the last two years. Various groups have played a role in the development of these standards from around the world, each brining a unique perspective to key surveillance issues. 


A WHO Working Group on Global Influenza Surveillance Standards was assembled, convening experts from all six WHO regions. Additionally, in March of 2011, a Global Consultation on Influenza Surveillance Standards was held in Geneva. This consultation brought together epidemiologists and surveillance officers from 35 countries from all six WHO regions, each of the WHO regional offices, as well as representation from PATH, US CDC, ECDC, and WHO HQ. 


Input from this meeting provided the basis for the initial drafts of the influenza surveillance standards document. The drafts were circulated further through various groups such as the WHO Epidemiological Network, the working group, and other advisors for feedback and comments from February to April of 2012. The feedback received from the current release of the document, the interim standards, will help direct the final version, which will be produced after the comment period that ends on October 31, 2012. 


The WHO now invites you to join this process and submit your own feedback on the interim standards.

View the WHO Interim Global Epidemiological Surveillance Standards for Influenza
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