The Border Infectious Disease Surveillance (BIDS) program was established in 1999 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Mexico Secretariat of Health, following mandates from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and the United StatesÁMexico border health association to improve border surveillance. The BIDS program is a binational public health collaboration to create an active sentinel-site surveillance of infectious disease among the United StatesÁMexico border. It is a collaborative effort between local, state, federal and international public health agencies throughout both countries in the border region. This project is aimed at using the best aspects of both countries surveillance system.