Recent events have focused on the role of emerging and reemerging diseases not only as a significant public health threat but also as a serious threat to the economy and security of nations. The lead time to detect and contain a novel emerging disease or events with public health importance has become much shorter, making developing countries particularly vulnerable to both natural and manmade threats. There is a need to develop disease surveillance systems flexible enough to adapt to the local existing infrastructure of developing countries but which will still be able to provide valid alerts and early detection of significant public health threats.