Global Disease Detection Program: India

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collaborates with the government of India to address priority public health burdens in the region, from measles and mumps to avian flu. In 2009, the India Global Disease Detection (GDD) Regional Center was established. The focus of the GDD Center, located at India’s National Centre for Disease Control, is to establish the India Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) and to work with local, regional, and global public health entities to better detect, identify, and contain emerging infectious disease threats.

Responding to Health Threats

The Center recently collaborated with the U.S. CDC on several encephalopathy outbreaks in the Muzzafarpur district of Bihar state. These outbreak investigations resulted in multiple scientific publications, which highlight a possible association between encephalopathy and litchi-growing regions.

Building Disease Detection and Response Capacity

GDD Centers work with partner countries to build sustainable capacity in five core public health areas. These capacity building efforts are responsive to partner-country priorities to help them meet their obligations under the revised International Health Regulations (IHR) and support the U.S. government’s Global Health Security Agenda.