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Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS): The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM Experience

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conference contribution
submitted on 2024-05-16, 10:44 and posted on 2024-05-26, 10:28 authored by Mohammed Sallam, Raihana Jabbar, Aura Corpuz, Mahmoud Sadek, Muzhgan Habibi, Farida Abougazia, Maha Al Shamali, Hamad Eid Al Romaihi

Background

The World Health Organization (WHO) supported the enhancement of Event?Based Surveillance through employment of Epidemic Intelligence from Open Sources (EIOS) to detect public health threats and diseases with potential for importation and spread which could impact the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022TM (FWC22) tournament (1–3). The initiative was implemented by the surveillance team at the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH), Qatar. We aim to highlight the use of EIOS in public health monitoring, threat detection, resource allocation, and emergency response through a review of its operations.

Methods

All open-source articles — available on public health intelligence networks as well as the press — that appeared on the EIOS FWC22 dashboard were screened and triaged using well-defined criteria (Table 1) developed to capture possible public health hazards in Qatar or in relation to the mass gatherings. The result of triaging determined whether the “signal” was discarded, monitored, or considered for an immediate risk assessment. Data capture was done for triaged signals. The signals that were deemed high-risk were sent to the national coordination unit for prompt management.

Results

EIOS helped implement preventive measures, generate data for post-event evaluation, and improve international collaboration. Around 300,000 articles were screened by the EIOS over 46 days (8 November – 25 December 2022) of which 0.6% were considered signals eligible for triage. Out of these, 0.3% underwent a risk assessment where 9 signals were deemed high-risk and 3 signals were events that required response from the national coordination unit (Table 2). These reports included mostly rumours about the MERS-CoV and were managed as infodemics.

Conclusion

EIOS served as a useful tool in identifying public health threats and contributed immensely to the Early Warning and Alert Response System (EWARS) to minimize potential impacts on the tournament. Automation could improve consistency while reducing human efforts and errors.

History

Language

  • English

Publisher

Hamad Medical Corporation

Publication Year

  • 2024

License statement

This Item is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Institution affiliated with

  • Hamad Medical Corporation
  • Ministry of Public Health

Geographic coverage

Qatar