About the Emerging Infections Network

Background & Organization

In its 1994 monograph, Addressing Emerging Infectious Disease Threats -- A Prevention Strategy for the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gave high priority to the establishment of provider-based emerging infections sentinel networks.  In September of 1995, the CDC granted a Cooperative Agreement Program award to the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) to develop such a network.   Larry Strausbaugh and Laura Liedtke founded the Emerging Infections Network (EIN) and directed this venture for almost 10 years.  

In January of 2006, the IDSA appointed Philip Polgreen and Loreen Herwaldt, at the University of Iowa, as Project Directors of the Network and Susan Beekmann assumed the role of Program Coordinator.

An Executive Committee oversees the activities of the EIN.  Bob Pinner, Dan Jernigan, and Matt Kuehnert  from the CDC and Dave Gilbert, Dave Busch, John Bennett, Patricia Murray, Larry Pickering and Larry Strausbaugh from the IDSA, as well as Steve Buckingham from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society (PIDS), serve on this Committee. A Scientific Advisory Committee provides additional input to the Network, and the members of this committee include Marty Cetron, Jeffrey Engel, Betty Forbes, and Gordon Schutze. At present the EIN's membership stands at over 900 ID specialists from all over the world with the majority practicing in the continental US.

Purposes & Functions

Detection of New or Unusual Clinical Events
The Infectious Diseases consultants who belong to the EIN represent hundreds of sophisticated "eyes and ears" who are "out there" in positions to identify new and unusual clinical events that may indicate the presence of a new emerging infection.

Case Identification
The EIN can assist in the identification of possible cases in an outbreak being investigated by the CDC or other public health authorities. The enumeration of such cases may delineate the geography of the outbreak, establish the optimal location(s) for intensive epidemiologic study, provide patients for case-control studies, and link rare cases that otherwise appear unrelated.

Acquisition of Knowledge
The EIN can sample the unique knowledge base of Infectious Diseases consultants for the public health and research communities. Such sampling may provide information about diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to specific syndromes or infections in different locales as well as preliminary estimates regarding the morbidity and mortality associated with new diseases.

Research Collaboration
The EIN can identify and mobilize interested Infectious Diseases consultants to participate in emerging infections research programs being conducted at the CDC and elsewhere. These consultants can identify target patients in their practices and secure both relevant clinical information and specimens.

Communication and Education
The EIN provides a forum for Infectious Diseases consultants to communicate with each other and interested parties at the CDC and elsewhere about new and unusual presentations of emerging infections and to share information pertaining to diagnosis and therapy of these infections.

Activities

Periodic Queries
Approximately every eight weeks, requests for information about specific clinical entities are sent to EIN members by either facsimile or e-mail requesting their response within 5 to 7 days.

Spontaneous Member Reports
The EIN members also describe new or unusual clinical phenomena on periodic queries, which then may prompt subsequent queries by the EIN or investigative activities by the CDC or others.

Urgent Queries
In the event of a possible outbreak, EIN members will be sent by facsimile or e-mail a one page request for information about specific clinical cases to which they will respond within 24 hours.

Electronic Mail Conference
For the EIN members and interested public health parties who are computerized, a listserv has been developed for the purpose of discussing emerging infections and related phenomena.

Reports
All EIN members, state and territorial epidemiologists, and interested parties at the CDC are sent summaries of information received from the periodic queries and the corresponding spontaneous member reports.

Contact Information