The main concern of the modern system is speed in detecting possible outbreaks, and accuracy of diagnosis is only secondary.

They detect and stop outbreaks of diseases like measles, tuberculosis, and food-borne illnesses.

Because it adjusts for purely temporal clusters, the method can only detect outbreaks if they start locally (not simultaneously across the entire surveillance area).

Increased ability to detect outbreaks may explain part of the increase, but not all of it, he added.

This is done to detect outbreaks, and to protect public health.

Congress, the officials said, has been slow to spend money on detecting outbreaks, even as they invest hundreds of millions in other bio-defense efforts and vaccines.

This would allow health officials to detect outbreaks in specific areas or groups.

Dr. Mahadevan said it was crucial to detect outbreaks earlier because red tide can be eradicated only when small.

Public health agencies have developed systems that they hope will detect outbreaks of disease faster in New York City, whether natural or manufactured.

He said the ability to detect outbreaks promptly also needed improving.