JHU/APL SAGES for Global Health Surveillance - in the age of Ebola

Global Health Surveillance

JHU/APL Technical Digest
Volume 32, Number 4 (July 2014)

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Global Health Surveillance The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) Global Health Surveillance program focuses on all phases of the surveillance time line—from prediction of a potential disease outbreak through response and communication efforts. SAGES (Suite for Automated Global Electronic bioSurveillance), which builds on years of experience with the ESSENCE system, is the cornerstone of APL's work in global health diplomacy initiatives. This issue of the Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest describes the development, implementation, and adaptation of the SAGES suite of tools; the process and challenges of making the tools open source; and potential new analytic models for early detection of disease outbreak.

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Global Health Surveillance—Guest Editor’s Introduction – Sheri H. Lewis

Improving the overall health of a given population has far-reaching effects not only on the economy and stability of that particular population but also on a global scale. Disease surveillance, a critical component in understanding and improving global health, is undergoing a revolution driven by advances in information technology. Recent years have seen vast improvements in the collection, analysis, visualization, and reporting of public health data. At the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), teams of software engineers, analysts, and epidemiologists have been working for more than 15 years to develop advanced electronic disease surveillance technologies. This issue of the Johns Hopkins APL Technical Digest describes the development and implementation of these technologies, the process and challenges of making the tools open source, and potential new analytic models for early detection of disease outbreak.

Lewis SL, Feighner BH, Loschen WA, Wojcik RA, Skora JF, et al. (2011) SAGES: A Suite of Freely-Available Software Tools for Electronic Disease Surveillance in Resource-Limited Settings. PLoS ONE 6(5): e19750. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0019750

PLOS ONE: SAGES: A Suite of Freely-Available Software Tools for Electronic Disease Surveillance in Resource-Limited Settings

 Public health surveillance is undergoing a revolution driven by advances in the field of information technology. Many countries have experienced
vast improvements in the collection, ingestion, analysis, visualization, and dissemination of public health data. Resource-limited countries have lagged behind due to challenges in information technology infrastructure, public health resources, and the costs of
proprietary software. The Suite for Automated Global Electronic bioSurveillance (SAGES) is a collection of modular, flexible, freely-available software tools for electronic disease surveillance in resource-limited settings. One or more SAGES tools may be used in concert with existing surveillance applications or the SAGES tools may be used en masse for an end-to-end biosurveillance capability. This flexibility allows for the development of an inexpensive, customized, and sustainable disease surveillance system. The ability to rapidly assess anomalous disease activity may lead to more efficient use of limited resources and better compliance with World Health Organization International Health Regulations.

Developing open source, self-contained disease surveillance software applications for use in resource-limited settings - Springer


SAGES: a suite of freely-available software tools for electronic disease surveillance in resource-limited settings.