Communicable Disease Surveillance

 

Public health surveillance is the systematic, ongoing collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of data followed by the dissemination of these data to public health programs to stimulate public health action 1. Effective communicable disease control efforts rely on an effective surveillance and response system that promotes collaboration, coordination, and communication among public health and clinical professionals. 

Epidemiologists utilize a wide variety of tools to disseminate public health data obtained from surveillance. CDEpi prioritizes the timely release of important public health data by using the data to publish reports, populate  dashboards, and to create visual aids.

1 Thacker SB, Berkelman RL. Public health surveillance in the United States. Epidemiology Rev. 1988;10:164-190.

Data management and security applies to electronic security as well as securing data kept in paper files. Adherence to data management and security practices is necessary to adequately protect data that are classified as "not public."

The Communicable Disease Epidemiology Section ensures that the data collected through our surveillance practices are kept secure, confidential, and only shared with the public as appropriate. CDEpi adheres to data management and security practices summarized in our Guidelines for Release of Public Health Data policy. For more information about communicable disease data security, confidentiality, and dissemination, please contact CDEpi directly: 406-444-0273.

To request a dataset for research or analysis, please complete the Data Analysis/Pull Request form. You will need a State of Montana Okta account to complete the form and request. If you do not have a State of Montana Okta account, you can set up an account here. 

A document with detailed instructions on the data request process can be accessed here.

Reports by Program Area