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who's E pidemiologicaZ Intelligence Network 



The service performed by WHO in regard to international epi- 

 demiological intelligence deserves special emphasis for three reasons : 



(1) Disease surveillance and quarantine were the original bases for 

 international collaboration in public health ma*t«rs and they remain 

 among the more difficult and dramatic aspects of such collaboration; 



(2) WHO has a unique semi-legislaitive authority over international 

 epidemiological and quarantine procedures; and (3) the network may 

 serve as a model of international authority with respect to the control 

 of global diseases of as yet unknown etiology, as well as the manage- 

 ment of emerging global environmental problems. 



THE NETWORK ORGANIZATION AND ITS ACTIVITIES 



The WHO Epidemiological Intelligence Network is an international 

 system of surveillance and quarantine designed to rex;eive and provide 

 rapid information in order to prevent the outbreak and to control the 

 spread of communica;ble disease anywhere in the world. As in the past, 

 but under new "International Health Regulations", the health admin- 

 istrators of governments are obliged to inform WHO of the first cases 

 or suspect cases of cholera, plague, smallpox, and yellow fever.^^ 



The information must be supplier! within 24 hours of disease identi- 

 fication, by means of telegram or telex directly to the intelligence head- 

 quarters in Geneva. The information is then given in a daily radio 

 bulletin broadcast from Geneva and retransmitted throughout the 

 world. Over 3,000 such disease case intelligence notifications come into 

 Geneva every year. (Governments can obtain WHO assistance in 

 investigating and controlling outbreaks of these reportable diseases.) 



This rapid information service is essential in view of the risk of 

 high-speed international spread of potentially epidemic diseases 

 through the ever increasing volume and range of air traffic. The speed 

 of dissemination of pathogenic micro-organisms (either the organisms 

 themselves in infectious materials, or in vectors like mosquitoes 

 and rats, or in carriers like human beings with or without obvi- 

 ous symptoms) , may be even greater than at present with the advent 

 and extensive use of large transcontinental aircraft. 



The new regulations impose stricter requirements at ports and air- 

 ports to ensure greater protection for and from the international 

 traveler. Vaccination certificates are required for such diseases as 

 cholera, yellow fever, and smallpox. Ships and aircraft arriving from 

 ports outside a given territory are required to submit a declaration of 

 health concerning all persons on board. Cargo, goods, and containers 

 are subject to regulations and requirements to assure within practicable 

 limits that they are free of infectious material, vectors, or rodents.'*" 

 Ships, aircraft, trains, and road vehicles, depending on circumstances 

 and the disease in question, are subject to quarantine or isolation. Per- 

 sons on an international voyage not showing evidence of protection 

 from a disease (like smallpox) may be placed under sun^eillance by 



=» Loiise-borne typhus, relapsin,? fevpr. viral influenza, paralytic poliomyelitis, any one 

 of a series of "hot" virnses. may also he reported, but .ire not suhlect to quarantine. There 

 is a single special provision for malaria. Resrardless of snecific disease a health authorit.v 

 may act to control the discharge from any ship of sewage and refuse which mifht con- 

 taminate the waters of a port, river, or canal. Also, no matter capable of causing any 

 epidemic disease shall be thrown or allowed to fall from an aircraft when it is in flight. 



^o "Initernational Health Regulations." Chapter V. (Geneva, World Health Organization), 

 page 15. 



