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