摘要：Geographically dispersed outbreaks of disease pose challenges for investigators due to the diffi culty of collecting and collating comparable data in a timely fashion. In Australia, when cases are detected in more than one jurisdiction, epidemiologists in differ-ent health departments must send results of their investigations by fax or email to a coordinating site for analysis. This process can result in considerable time delays and the possibility of data transcription errors. Web–based case reporting systems which house questionnaires on a secure web site allow investiga-tors from multiple sites to enter interview data directly into the outbreak database. NetEpi Case Manager1is an open source software tool designed to assist with epidemiological investigations, analyses, and other aspects of public health practice. This system is cur-rently being developed at the Centre for Epidemiology and Research in the New South Wales Department of Health. In 2004, OzFoodNet2trialled NetEpi for the Austra lian Government Department of Health and Ageing to assess its usefulness as an interim outbreak case reporting system for the Biosecurity Surveillance System.3The trial demonstrated the benefi ts of a web-based case reporting system and real-time access to collated uniform data. OzFoodNet decided to use NetEpi in future investigations of geo-graphically dispersed outbreaks
