In 1996, Presidential Decision Directive NSTC-7 declared that capabilities were inadequate to protect the U.S. or global communities from emerging infectious disease (EID) threats. At the time, the Department of Defense (DoD) was recognized for its strong global public health presence maintained through its overseas medical research and development laboratories. In response to the directive, DoD overseas capabilities were leveraged through establishment of the DoD Global Emerging Infections Surveillance and Response System (DoD-GEIS) in 1997. DoD-GEIS provided a mechanism to centralize coordination, improve preventive health programs and epidemiological capabilities, and enhance involvement with military treatment facilities and United States and overseas laboratories.

In 2008, DoD-GEIS became a Division of the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center (AFHSC) by direction of the deputy secretary of defense. This move centralized DoD-wide healthcare surveillance activities with domestic and overseas laboratory surveillance efforts. To learn more about GEIS and past activities, visit our archived GEIS Annual Reports.

Partner Locations

AFHSC-GEIS provides direction, funding and oversight to a network of over 35 partners based in all regions of the world. Working in conjunction with their host nations, these partners conduct disease surveillance and rapid outbreak response, encourage research and innovation, and build capacity.

• Supported pandemic surge response through collection and analysis of over 81,000 samples (approximately 400% increase over the FY08 pre-pandemic period); one specimen (A/Iraq/8529/2009) was selected as a World Health Organization Northern Hemisphere 2010-2011 seasonal vaccine A/H1N1 reference strain (AFHSC-GEIS Partner Network; USAFSAM)
• Published over 1,000 sequences to GenBank, increasing our scientific knowledge of circulating influenza viruses and assisting public health officials with vaccine selection (AFHSC-GEIS Partner Network)
• Established and maintained Influenza-like Illness (ILI) surveillance in 10 Central and South American countries, totaling over 50 sites (NAMRU-6, PHCR-South)
• Conducted "Conferencia Regional Andina sobre Enfermedades Infecciosas", a three day conference on emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) with participants and regional health experts from 11 countries in Central and South America (NAMRU-6)
• Supported training in surveillance, diagnostic testing and response of bacterial/enteric disease, febrile illness, influenza, and leishmaniasis, diagnosis to over 200 medical and laboratory personnel from the South American region (NAMRU-6, PHCR-South)
• Trained 1,049 Royal Thai Army staff in support of military unit-based surveillance at five border areas in Thailand as well as 20 civilian and over 70 Cambodian military personnel in basic malaria microscopy and diagnostics (AFRIMS)
• Trained five Cambodian National Institute of Public Health/NAMRU-2 technicians and 30 Cambodian nationals in influenza strain sequencing, surveillance and epidemiology; provided bacterial laboratory testing support to six Ministry of Health District/Provincial hospitals (NAMRU-2)
• Provided training in laboratory testing and epidemiology of influenza, malaria, diarrheal disease and other EIDs to 1,614 medical and laboratory personnel from 31 countries in Central Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa (NAMRU-3, USAMRU-K)
• Supported training of 40 medical and laboratory personnel from four countries in Central/East Africa on basic malaria microscopy, influenza, diagnoses of enteric infections, sexually transmitted infections, and other febrile illnesses; helped establish National Influenza Centers (NICs) in Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo, and supported NICs in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda (NAMRU-3, USAMRU-K)
• Developed steering committees for febrile and vector-borne infection, gastrointestinal infection, malaria, and respiratory infection programs to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of DoD surveillance activities (AFHSC-GEIS Partner Network)