A new capability has been developed for ESSENCE systems that allow local administrators to publish their data sources for use by another jurisdiction''s ESSENCE users. This presentation will describe the new federated query capability in ESSENCE and how it could affect public health practice in the future. Specifically, this presentation will describe how a federated set of disease surveillance systems across the country could help improve national disease surveillance situational awareness along with its potential to connect non-ESSENCE systems in the future for even more complete coverage.