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Automated Syndromic Surveillance for the 2002 Winter Olympics

Affiliations of the authors: University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah (PHG, RMG, RTR, BCJ); Intermountain Health Care, Salt Lake City, Utah (PHG, BCJ); The RODS Laboratory, Center for Biomedical Informatics, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (F-CT, JUE, WWC, MMW); Utah Department of Health, Salt Lake City, Utah (RTR); Department of Computer Science, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (AWM), USA

Correspondence and reprints: Reed M. Gardner, PhD, School of Medicine, RM AB193, 50 North Medical Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84132; e-mail: <reed.gardner{at}hsc.utah.edu>.

Received for publication: 02/28/03; accepted for publication: 05/14/03.

The 2002 Olympic Winter Games were held in Utah from February 8 to March 16, 2002. Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and the anthrax release in October 2001, the need for bioterrorism surveillance during the Games was paramount. A team of informaticists and public health specialists from Utah and Pittsburgh implemented the Real-time Outbreak and Disease Surveillance (RODS) system in Utah for the Games in just seven weeks. The strategies and challenges of implementing such a system in such a short time are discussed. The motivation and cooperation inspired by the 2002 Olympic Winter Games were a powerful driver in overcoming the organizational issues. Over 114,000 acute care encounters were monitored between February 8 and March 31, 2002. No outbreaks of public health significance were detected. The system was implemented successfully and operational for the 2002 Olympic Winter Games and remains operational today.

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