CDC Surveillance Systems

There are numerous CDC surveillance systems that collect data on antibiotic/antimicrobial resistance and drug susceptibility. The following links contain available epidemiologic data about specific resistant pathogens or groups of pathogens.

The Emerging Infections Programs (EIP)

The EIP network is a national resource for surveillance, prevention, and control of emerging infectious diseases, established in 1995. The EIP is a network of 10 state health departments (CA, CO, CT, GA, MD, MN, NM, NY, OR, TN) and their collaborators in local health departments, academic institutions, other federal agencies, and public health and clinical laboratories; infection preventionists; and healthcare providers. The EIP population is roughly representative of the U.S. population on the basis of demographic characteristics such as age, gender, race, and urban residence, as well as health indicators such as population density and percent at or below the poverty level.

EIP activities go beyond routine functions of health departments by:

Addressing the most important issues in infectious diseases and selecting projects that the EIP network is particularly suited to investigate
Maintaining sufficient flexibility for emergency response and addressing new problems as they arise
Developing and evaluating public health interventions and ultimately transferring what is learned to public health agencies
Incorporating training as a key function of EIP activities
Giving high priority to projects that lead directly to the prevention of disease

Active Bacterial Core Surveillance (ABCs): Active population-based laboratory surveillance for invasive bacterial disease. Pathogens included: groups A and B Streptococcus, Haemophilus influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and methicillin-resistantStaphylococcus aureus.
FoodNet: Active population-based laboratory surveillance to monitor the incidence of foodborne diseases. Surveillance is conducted for seven bacterial and two parasitic pathogens: E. coli O157:H7, Campylobacter, Listeria, Salmonella, Shigella, Yersinia, Vibrio, Cryptosporidium, and Cyclospora.
Influenza activities: Active population-based surveillance for laboratory confirmed influenza-related hospitalizations. EIP sites also conduct annual influenza vaccine effectiveness evaluations.
Healthcare-Associated Infections-Community Interface (HAIC) projects: Active population-based surveillance for Clostridium difficile infection and other healthcare associated infections caused by pathogens such as MRSA, Candida, and multi-drug resistant gram-negative bacteria. Sites also utilize the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) to perform time-limited evaluations of HAIC data among NHSN facilities participating in the EIP NHSN network.

Surveillance efforts of these core EIP activities generate reliable estimates of the incidence of certain infections and provide the foundation for a variety of epidemiologic studies to explore risk factors, spectrum of disease, and prevention strategies.

Gonococcal Isolate Surveillance Project (GISP)
GISP was established in 1986 to monitor trends in antimicrobial susceptibilities of strains of N. gonorrhoeae in the United States in order to establish a rational basis for the selection of gonococcal therapies. GISP is a collaborative project between selected sexually transmitted disease (STD) clinics, five regional laboratories, and CDC.

MeningNet
MeningNet is an enhanced passive surveillance system for meningococcal disease, a severe bacterial infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis that can result in meningitis and/or sepsis. MeningNet consists of more than 10 state health departments working in collaboration with the Meningitis and Vaccine Preventable Diseases Branch at the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, Division of Bacterial Diseases. In response to increasing concerns aboutantimicrobial-resistant N. meningitidis, the capacity of MeningNet was increased in 2008 to conduct surveillance for antimicrobial resistance.

National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System—Enteric Bacteria (NARMS)
The National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) is a collaboration among CDC,FDA

, USDA

, and state and local health departments. NARMS monitors antimicrobial resistance in enteric (intestinal) bacteria isolated from humans, retail meats, and food animals. CDC’s primary role is to track and report antibiotic resistance in enteric bacteria isolated from people who have infections caused by Salmonella, Campylobacter, Escherichia coli O157, Shigella, or Vibrio species other than V. cholerae.

National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN)
NHSN, established in 2005, facilitates reporting of surveillance data for healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) among patients and healthcare personnel. NHSN integrates and builds upon three legacy surveillance systems at CDC: the National Nosocomial Infections Surveillance (NNIS) system, the Dialysis Surveillance Network (DSN), and the National Surveillance System for Healthcare Workers (NaSH). MDRO and Clostridium difficile-associated disease are part of NHSN’s Patient Safety Component. NHSN is managed by CDC’s Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion(DHQP).

National Tuberculosis Surveillance System
Since 1953, in cooperation with state and local health departments, CDC has collected information on each newly reported case of tuberculosis (TB) disease in the United States. Currently, each individual TB case report (Report of Verified Case of Tuberculosis, or RVCT) is submitted electronically to CDC’s Division of Tuberculosis Elimination. The RVCT captures initial and followup drug-susceptibility testing results for culture-positive TB cases that had drug-susceptibility testing performed.