Epidemiological surveillance of land borders in North and South America: a case study

Bruniera-Oliveira, Robson; Horta, Marco Aurélio Pereira; Varan, Aiden; Montiel, Sonia; Carmo, Eduardo Hage; Waterman, Stephen H; Verani, José Fernando de Souza

The U.S. has developed programs and specialized structures in border surveillance, such as the Borders Office, quarantine stations (QS), and important partnerships with several agencies that provide support with any suspected case of an important binational disease (Table 1) . Brazil does not have such structures. However, it does have Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and border offices in its structural organization, and organization stations called the Health Surveillance Stations of Ports, Airports, Borders and Customs Enclosures (PVPAF) of the Brazilian Sanitary Surveillance Agency (ANVISA). These stations are located at strategic points in Brazil, 17 of which are on land borders. Surveillance activities and sanitary control of goods, people, and animals are carried out at these stations, and some facilities have agreements with regional hospitals for the displacement and isolation of suspected cases of infectious diseases of public health concern. In addition, some of these stations are located on borders that have bior multinational facilities, a fact that makes the interaction between countries easier and more timely (Table 1) .