01
Infectious disease and outbreak surveillance
Detecting a potential outbreak in time to contain it requires data that flows instantly, accurately, and completely from facility to national level. Paper-based reporting and siloed systems make that impossible.
With partner support, BAO Systems built the electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response system (eIDSR) for the Democratic Republic of Congo Ministry of Health. Built on DHIS2 using metadata packages that comply with WHO reporting guidelines, the system tracks both case-based and event-based surveillance, triggers real-time alerts when outbreak symptoms are detected, and notifies all levels of the health system the moment a case is confirmed.
The eIDSR system is integrated in the national DHIS2 platform and transitioned to the Ministry of Health. Use of the system has improved data completeness, data timeliness, and enhanced the country’s outbreak response capabilities for priority diseases such as cholera and Ebola.
02
Syndromic surveillance
Syndromic surveillance is designed to detect health threats before diagnostic confirmation arrives. For most health departments, that means managing multiple data streams from emergency departments, laboratories, and clinics in separate systems with no unified view. By the time a pattern is visible, the window for early response has often already closed.
BAO Systems connects existing health information systems to deliver a near real-time, unified surveillance picture across respiratory illness, heat-related disease, opioid overdose trends, and emerging infectious threats. The approach strengthens what health departments already operate without replacing it, using HL7 and FHIR to integrate data from electronic health records, laboratories, and clinics into a single picture. Automated anomaly detection keeps epidemiologists informed and in the loop. Data and findings are returned to the communities that generated them, supporting health equity and faster local response.
03
Disaster response and shelter health surveillance
During a disaster, the window between data collection and public health action can be the difference between a contained situation and a secondary health crisis. Relief organizations have historically relied on manual processes that introduce 12 to 24 hour delays into that cycle.
BAO Systems worked with multiple disaster response agencies to deploy the Dharma Platform to modernize shelter health surveillance across the United States and its territories. The system replaced fax-based reporting with near real-time line-level data collection and analysis across 24 Disaster Relief Operations, covering 6,408 shelter health surveillance records and 4,408 client records.
It enables rapid identification of emerging health threats across multiple shelter sites and gives authorities accurate, timely evidence to respond confidently to safety concerns.
04
Environmental and wastewater surveillance
Wastewater surveillance is an increasingly critical early warning tool, capable of detecting disease presence in a population before clinical cases appear. Managing wastewater sample data across multiple countries and sites requires standardized, structured systems that manual tracking cannot provide.
05
Mortality and vital statistics surveillance
Understanding the cause of death is foundational to effective public health practice. Without accurate, timely mortality data, health authorities cannot target interventions, allocate resources, or measure progress against preventable deaths.
As part of a data modernization initiative, BAO Systems transitioned a large, multicountry surveillance project from an on-premises infrastructure to a scalable, serverless, global AWS cloud platform. The platform processes demographic, clinical, and laboratory data in real time and through overnight batch processing, generating accurate cause-of-death data on child mortality across multiple countries.
In Sub-Saharan Africa,, BAO Systems built an electronic Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (eMPDSR) system for a state Ministry of Health. Built on DHIS2 Tracker with mobile data collection, the platform supports field workers while maintaining strict client confidentiality, giving decision-makers timely, accurate data to design interventions that reduce maternal and neonatal deaths.
