Sammanfattning
Introduction: Disease outbreak monitoring is relevant not only for naturally occurring diseases but also for detecting a biological terror event. Surveillance systems are already operational in Denmark, but none of these has the high update frequencies necessary for early warning, and the majority monitor specific infectious diseases. Materials and methods: An early-warning system for detection of disease outbreaks in Denmark based on ambulance transport frequency was developed and tested employing a biological outbreak scenario. Results: The system, termed »Bioalarm«, demonstrated an ability to adapt to minor statistical variations due to, e.g., mild influenza epidemics and at the same time to elicit an early warning in the event of a outbreak consistent with a bioterrorist attack. Conclusion: Bioalarm not only is relevant for early warning of a disease outbreak as a result of a biological attack but also facilitates early detection of naturally occurring outbreaks.