The main role of disease surveillance is to predict, observe, and minimize the harm caused by outbreak, epidemic, and pandemic situations, as well as increase knowledge about which factors contribute to such circumstances.
[1] In modern times, reporting incidences of disease outbreaks has been transformed from manual record keeping, to instant worldwide internet communication.
[2][failed verification] Formal reporting of notifiable infectious diseases is a requirement placed upon health care providers by many regional and national governments, and upon national governments by the World Health Organization to monitor spread as a result of the transmission of infectious agents.
Regional and national governments typically monitor a larger set of (around 80 in the U.S.) communicable diseases that can potentially threaten the general population.
[citation needed] The World Health Organization (WHO) is the lead agency for coordinating global response to major diseases.
[citation needed] WHO's Epidemic and Pandemic Alert and Response (EPR) to detect, verify rapidly and respond appropriately to epidemic-prone and emerging disease threats covers the following diseases:[5] As the lead organization in global public health, the WHO occupies a delicate role in global politics.
In the case of H5N1, for example, there is a low pathogenic H5N1 strain in wild birds in North America that a human could conceivably have antibodies against.
Information that scientists and decision makers need to make useful medical products and informed decisions for health care, but currently lack include:[citation needed] Surveillance of H5N1 in humans, poultry, wild birds, cats and other animals remains very weak in many parts of Asia and Africa.
Shigeru Omi, WHO's regional director for the Western Pacific, said it is estimated that countries would have only two to three weeks to stamp out, or at least slow, a pandemic flu strain after it began spreading in humans.