The practice of public health surveillance is evolving as electronic health records (EHRs) and automated laboratory information systems are increasing adopted, as new approaches for health information exchange are employed, and as new health information standards affect the entire cascade of surveillance information flow. These trends have been accelerated by the Federal program to promote the Meaningful Use of electronic health records, which includes explicit population health objectives.

Early Aberration Reporting System (EARS, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, EARS Program, MS C-18, Atlanta, GA, USA) is a freeware surveillance tool that can be downloaded from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s website (http://emergency.cdc.gov/surveillance/ears/). It was designed for quick set-up and customization for automated monitoring of emergency department and other syndromic data sources, including, but not limited to, 911 calls, school absenteeism,