摘要：This issue of CDI contains the annual report of the NationalNotifiable Diseases Surveillance System (NNDSS) for 1999,as well as the usual array of articles and latest surveillancereports. It will be our final issue in 2001, and is our third withthe 'new look', which we hope everyone is enjoying.The articles in this volume reflect some of the current issuesin communicable diseases surveillance and control inAustralia — the threat of intentional use of biological agentsas weapons, transmissible spongiform encephalopathies(TSEs), tuberculosis (TB), meningococcal disease,arboviral disease, Q fever, foodborne illness, and antibioticresistance. We have published the first in a series of reviewshighlighting the networks that are vital to communicabledisease surveillance in Australia. In this issue we haveincluded an overview of the Communicable DiseasesNetwork Australia (p266). While many people working inpublic health in this country are more than familiar with thesenetworks, we recognise that not all of our readers may beaware of all functions and we hope that these articles willprovide an interesting look at their history and development
