The U.S.-Mexico Border Infectious Disease Surveillance project: establishing bi-national border surveillance

Abstract

In 1997, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Mexican Secretariat of Health, and border health officials began the development of the Border Infectious Disease Surveillance (BIDS) project, a surveillance system for infectious diseases along the U.S.-Mexico border. During a 3-year period, a binational team implemented an active, sentinel surveillance system for hepatitis and febrile exanthems at 13 clinical sites. The network developed surveillance protocols, trained nine surveillance coordinators, established serologic testing at four Mexican border laboratories, and created agreements for data sharing and notification of selected diseases and outbreaks. BIDS facilitated investigations of dengue fever in Texas-Tamaulipas and measles in California-Baja California. BIDS demonstrates that a binational effort with local, state, and federal participation can create a regional surveillance system that crosses an international border. Reducing administrative, infrastructure, and political barriers to cross-border public health collaboration will enhance the effectiveness of disease prevention projects such as BIDS.

Figure 1

The Rio Grande River separates the border between Cuidad Juarez, Chihauhua, Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, USA.

Figure 2

Border Infectious Disease Surveillance project sentinel sites in sister cities along U.S.-Mexico border: Tiajuana–San Diego, Nogales-Nogales, Las Cruces–Cuidad Juarez–El Paso, and Reynosa-McAllen. The new cities are Mexicali-Imperial (the sister city pair near Tijuana–San Diego) and Brownsville (near McAllen).