ProMED-mail (the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases) is a global electronic reporting system for outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases & toxins, open to all sources, free of charge. ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society of Infectious Diseases (ISID), based in Brookline, MA, USA.

ProMED-mail is an internet-based reporting system dedicated to rapid global dissemination of information on outbreaks of infectious diseases and acute exposures to toxins that affect human health, including those in animals and in plants grown for food or animal feed. Electronic communications enable ProMED-mail to provide up-to-date and reliable news about threats to human, animal, and food plant health around the world, 7 days a week. By providing early warning of outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging diseases, public health precautions at all levels can be taken in a timely manner to prevent epidemic transmission and to save lives.

ProMED-mail is open to all sources and free of political constraints. Sources of information include media reports, official reports, online summaries, local observers, and others. Reports are often contributed by ProMED-mail subscribers. A team of expert human, plant, and animal disease moderators screen, review, and investigate reports before posting to the network. Reports are distributed by email to direct subscribers and posted immediately on the ProMED-mail web site. ProMED-mail currently reaches more than 50,000 subscribers in over 185 countries around the world.

A central purpose of ProMED-mail is to promote communication amongst the international infectious disease community, including scientists, physicians, epidemiologists, public health professionals, and others interested in infectious diseases on a global scale. ProMED-mail encourages subscribers to participate in discussions on infectious disease concerns, to respond to requests for information, and to collaborate in outbreak investigations and prevention efforts. ProMED-mail also welcomes the participation of interested persons outside of the health and biomedical professions.

ProMED-mail is also available in Portuguese, ProMED-PORT, and in Spanish, ProMED-ESP, which cover disease news focusing on Latin America and Portguese-speaking African countries. ProMED-RUS offers Russian-language reports relevant to the Newly Independent States of the former Soviet Union. PRO/MBDS offers reports in English on the 6 countries bordering the Mekong River in Southeast Asia. Under a recent grant from Google.org, ProMED-mail is working with HealthMap at Children's Hospital Boston to build up our networks in West Africa (ProMED-FRA) posted in French, and East Africa (ProMED-EAFR) posted in English.

ProMED-mail and ISID are grateful to Google.org, the Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Oracle Corporation, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, and many individual donors for financial support.

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ProMED-mail (the Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases) is a global electronic reporting system for outbreaks of emerging infectious diseases & toxins, open to all sources, free of charge. ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society of Infectious Diseases (ISID), based in Brookline, MA, USA.

ProMED-mail is an internet-based reporting system dedicated to rapid global dissemination of information on outbreaks of infectious diseases and acute exposures to toxins that affect human... (read more)