SAN DIEGO - The Operational Infectious Diseases (OID) Directorate, at Naval Health Research Center (NHRC), conducts active, laboratory-based surveillance for infectious diseases that affect military personnel and their families. Febrile respiratory illness surveillance is done at various recruit and training sites, and several points along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Dr. Francisco Mimica Porras, OID Senior Epidemiologist and Biosurveillance department head, compiled the data from these surveillance sites dating back to 1998 to present, and developed a usable dashboard on the Department of Defense (DoD) Global Emerging Infections Surveillance (GEIS) website. The GEIS website is a central location supporting a global network of highly qualified DoD Service laboratories.
“NHRC partners can now go to one spot, look at the historical data, and see patterns and trends, and due to a new artificial intelligent application, we are able to analyze data, and provide additional information in minutes, which in some cases used to take days,” said Mimica Porras

“In one case showing trends, the graphic display on the dashboard can show you that after 2011 there was a significant drop of the number of adenovirus cases among recruit population, because of the effectiveness of vaccine. This determination has a significant impact on readiness for our warfighters and understanding antimicrobial resistance,” added Mimica Porras
“The development of this dashboard will have growing significance while data continues to be added from other surveillance laboratories, facilitating better, faster communication and support to our customers and partners globally,” remarked Lt. Cmdr. Michelle Lane, director of OID.

NHRC’s mission is to optimize military operational readiness through cutting-edge research on warfighter, veteran, and family health. NHRC supports military mission readiness with research and development that delivers high-value, high-impact solutions to the health and readiness challenges our military population faces on the battlefield, at sea, on foreign shores and at home. NHRC’s team of distinguished scientists and researchers consists of active-duty service members, federal civil service employees and contractors, whose expertise includes physiology, microbiology, psychology, epidemiology, and biomedical engineering.