The Connecticut Emerging Infections Program (CT EIP) is a collaborative effort involving the CT Dept of Public Health (DPH) and the Yale University School of Medicine (Yale EIP). The DPH is the lead agency for this cooperative agreement. The CT EIP participates in all functional EIP activities including active surveillance; applied public health epidemiologic and laboratory studies; pilot prevention/intervention projects; flexible capacity in conceptualization, study design and implementation of new EIP network projects on short notice; development of site-specific pilot projects that lead to new network-wide surveillance activities; and training of the future public health workforce. The CT EIP conducts the following core activities: 1) the Active Bacterial Core Surveillance: active population-based laboratory surveillance statewide for invasive disease caused by Streptococcus pnetononiae, Haemophihts influenzae, Neisseria meningitidis, groups A and B streptococci, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus attreus, and performs prevention and control projects; 2) FoodNet: statewide surveillance for CampyIobacter spp., Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, E. coli O157 and other Shiga-toxin producing E. coli, Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Vibrio spp., and Yersinia spp. to identify risk factors, investigate foodborne disease outbreaks, and define the magnitude of foodbome illness; 3) Surveillance for Respiratory Diseases: population based surveillance for hospitalized, community-acquired lower respiratory disease; lab confirmed influenza-related hospitalizations in children; pneumonia among health care workers; and an institution-based project to determine etiologies of severe respiratory syndrome. The CT EIP also has the capacity for a flexible response to emerging problems and the ability to conduct rapid population-based surveys. In addition, the CT EIP conducts an integrated hepatitis surveillance project that includes surveillance and prevention activities for hepatitis A, B, and C; a population-based surveillance for newly diagnosed and pre-existing cases of chronic liver disease among residents of one county; and the Unexplained Deaths Project that conducts prospective population-based surveillance for unexplained deaths among previously healthy persons.
