Use of ProMED as a Surveillance System for Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases in Brazil from 2015 to 2020

Abstract

Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases have been frequently reported in Brazil. The Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED) is a virtual system with expert curation for monitoring health events, including those occurring in Brazil. This study aimed to describe the ProMED as a complementary surveillance system for emerging infectious diseases in Brazil. It has a retrospective and descriptive design, and was conducted using ProMED-PORT reports that cited Brazil and were published from 1 January 2015, to 31 December 2020. In total, 220 new reports were identified during the study period. Most of these were published between January and June. Reports on humans were predominant (n = 177), and comprised 78 kinds of events, most of which were related to arboviruses. Reports on animals were the second most prevalent (n = 35), and encompassed 18 kinds of events, particularly yellow fever in non-human primates, rabies in different mammals, and sporotrichosis in felines. Six (2.7%) reports were related to humans and animals, while two (0.9%) were related to plants or the environment. Most reports were from Southeast and Northeast regions. ProMED identified leading emerging and reemerging infectious diseases in Brazil, serving as an information source for local and international health authorities.