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FluWatch, Canada's national influenza surveillance system, is coordinated through the Centre for Infectious Disease Prevention and Control at the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The program, which began in 1996, provides a national picture of influenza activity and has the following primary objectives:
Data and information from various sources are collected in order to meet the objectives of the FluWatch program. These indicators of influenza activity are reported year round on a weekly basis to the FluWatch program and include:
(*Only reported to FluWatch during the influenza season.)
FluWatch disseminates information through weekly reports during the active influenza season and biweekly reports during the low season (mid-May to September). Reports are published on Fridays and are available to health professionals and the public through a variety of media, including fax, e-mail and this Web site.
Influenza surveillance is a collaborative effort between provincial and territorial ministries of health, participating laboratories, The College of Family Physicians of Canada-National Research System (NaReS), sentinel practitioners, tertiary care paediatric hospitals through the IMPACT program, the National Microbiology Laboratory and the Centre for Immunization and Respiratory Infectious Diseases (CIRID) at the Public Health Agency of Canada.