Disasters may increase the risk of disease. Therefore, epidemiological surveillance systems and disease prevention and control programs and should be in place.

• National epidemiological surveillance system and tools available for disease monitoring and control should be adequate and/or easy to use in disaster situations.
• An epidemiological surveillance system in disaster situations is based on the rapid establishment of sentinel sites, surveillance of notifiable diseases, use of practical report forms, and reporting based on symptoms and syndromes. Examples of the forms, along with main types of health information needed for decision-making, can be found in the guide to epidemiological health surveillance in disaster situations.