Syndromic surveillance monitors trends in nonspecific health indicator data to detect disease outbreaks in a timely manner; however, only a limited percentage of persons with mild illness might exhibit behaviors that could be detected by syndromic surveillance.
Bureau of Epidemiology Services, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, 125 Worth Street, Room 315, CN-6, New York, NY 10013, USA. kmetzger@health.nyc.gov