Langmuir (1963) defined surveillance in its early days as “close observation of persons
exposed to a communicable disease to detect early symptoms and institute prompt
isolation and control measures.” CDC has defined public health surveillance as “ongoing,
systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of data that is then disseminated
to those responsible for preventing diseases and other health conditions.” The monitoring
of health status in the community had its beginnings in Italy, where isolation and
quarantine were used as a means to control the spread of infectious diseases (Gensini,
2004). In 1935 the first national health survey was conducted in the United States.