“The collection and analysis of pre-diagnosis information that lead to an estimation of the health status of the community”

      –DOD-GEIS. http://ndms.umbc.edu/conference2003/Proceedings/conf12_Biosurveillance_Lobardo.pdf

“An investigational approach where health department staff, assisted by automated data acquisition and generation of statistical alarms, monitor disease indicators in real-time or near real-time to detect outbreaks of diseases earlier than would otherwise be possible with traditional public health methods.”

      -CDC. Draft Framework for Evaluating Surveillance Systems for Early Detection of Outbreaks. August 26, 2003.