This project reviewed approaches used by public health agencies for alerting health care providers and enhancing surveillance systems to identify the presence of novel respiratory disease and to characterize their recent experience in searching for globally emerging viruses. Public health agencies continue to endeavor to develop and maintain cost-effective disease surveillance systems to better understand the burden of illness, especially newly emerging disease, within their jurisdiction. The importance of maintaining sufficient infrastructure and the trained personnel needed to operate these surveillance systems for optimal disease detection and public health response readiness cannot be understated.