Division of Public Health, Surveillance and Response The Public Health Surveillance and Response Division was established

incorporating The Group for Enteric, Respiratory and Meningeal Diseases Surveillance in South Africa (GERMS-SA), Outbreak Response and Travel Health The Division facilitates communication and data sharing between the national and provincial health departments and the NICD and provide epidemiological input to other NICD units through collaborative projects and support of surveillance and epidemiological activities and outbreak responses.

Outbreak Response: The Outbreak Response Team is tasked with providing technical support for all aspects of communicable disease outbreak investigation and control in the nine provinces of South Africa, with special emphasis on optimising the role of laboratory services during these events. The team aims to be a source of intelligence during outbreaks, and through working in close collaboration with the provincial and national Departments of Health, ensures a comprehensive outbreak response, as well as the development of systems for early detection and improved reporting. Through close partnerships with the NHLS diagnostic laboratories and reference units of the NICD, the team aims to facilitate appropriate laboratory diagnostic services during outbreaks and specialised diagnostics as required.

The Outbreak Response Team plays a crucial role in communications with stakeholders such as the Department of Health, medical practitioners, media and the general public. We publish a monthly Communicable Diseases Communiqu for providing up-to-date information on communicable disease events in South Africa, as well as regularly produce various healthcare worker guidelines, handbooks, fact-sheets, etc. for outbreak-prone communicable diseases of high public health importance. The Team also plays a central role in capacity development by providing inservice training to SA-FELTP residents, public health specialist registrars and secondees from international partner organisations, and routinely provides Epidemic Preparedness and Response Training to staff of the Department of Health. The Division of Medical Virology The Division of Medical Virology is involved in diagnostic virology, research and teaching. The National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) virology diagnostic laboratory under Dr Diana Hardie provides a comprehensive service to Groote Schuur Hospital and Red Cross Children's Hospital. In addition it is the referral laboratory for a large proportion of the regional virology testing in the province. It offers a wide repertoire of tests in the fields of viral serology and molecular diagnostics. The laboratory has a special interest in molecular diagnosis of human viral diseases and performs an extensive range of 'in-house' and commercial molecular assays. It is a registered training laboratory with the Health Professions Council of South Africa. The Division of Medical Virology has a dynamic research programme. Its members are part of

national and international programmes to discover an effective vaccine against HIV, with research focus in immunology, viral diversity and evolution, and vaccine development. They have developed candidate HIV vaccines that have been tested in clinical trials. They have an interest in human papilloma virus research, and are developing novel diagnostic tools for some of the more neglected but still clinically relevant viral diseases that are common in Africa. The division also participates in the WHO human papillomavirus laboratory network (Labnet). NICD/UCT/NHLS Molecular Epidemiology Unit The Molecular Epidemiology Unit was established in May 2010 at UCT/NHLS, Groote Schuur. This unit is a satellite to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) of the NHLS. The Divisions of Medical Microbiology and Medical Virology (UCT/NHLS) are jointly responsible for the functioning of the unit and the unit is jointly headed by Professors Mark Nicol and Anna-Lise Williamson. The unit complements the functions of the NICD and acts as an affiliate of the NICD. The unit plans to build on the skills and knowledge of the university departments and of the diagnostic laboratory at Groote Schuur Hospital (which serves Red Cross Children's Hospital, Mowbray Maternity Hospital, Victoria Hospital and False Bay Hospital in addition to Groote Schuur Hospital). Collaboration with other NICD units has commenced with the placement of a FELTP trainee. While the unit is still in the early stages of developing protocols, the knowledge generated through its work will in future inform and assist the fight against hospital acquired infections. The unit has the following focus areas:

Investigation of outbreaks of hospital-based infection, both viral and bacterial, with a focus on the coastal region, in collaboration with the Epidemiology and Outbreak Response Unit of the NICD Improving our understanding of the local epidemiology of multi-resistant bacterial pathogens, as part of a national collaborative network Tracking and identification of emerging pathogens in the coastal region, in collaboration with the relevant central NICD units Managing the activities of the WHO human papillomavirus Labnet laboratory for the Africa region.