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Background The International Health Regulations state that early detection and immediate reporting of unusual health events is important for early warning and response systems. Objective To describe a pilot surveillance program established in health facilities in Yaounde, Cameroon in 2017 which aimed to enable detection and reporting of public health events. Methods Cameroon's Ministry of Health, in partnership with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Cameroon Pasteur Center, and National Public Health Laboratory, implemented event-based surveillance (EBS) in nine Yaounde health facilities. Four signals were defined that could indicate possible public health events, and a reporting, triage, and verification system was established among partner organizations. A pre-defined laboratory algorithm was defined, and a series of workshops trained health facilities, laboratory, and public health staff for surveillance implementation. Results From May 2017 to January 2018, 30 signals were detected, corresponding to 15 unusual respiratory events. All health facilities reported a signal at least once, and more than three-quarters of health facilities reported ≥2 times. Among specimens tested, the pathogens detected included Klebsiella pneumoniae, Moraxella catarrhalis, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenza, Staphylococcus aureus, Pneumocystis jiroveci, influenza A (H1N1) virus, rhinovirus, and adenovirus. Conclusions The events detected in this pilot were caused by routine respiratory bacteria and viruses, and no novel influenza viruses or other emerging respiratory threats were identified. The surveillance system, however, strengthened relationships and communication linkages between health facilities and public health authorities. Astute clinicians can play a critical role in early detection and EBS is one approach that may enable reporting of emerging outbreaks and public health events.

Background In 2016, as a component of the Global Health Security Agenda, the Vietnam Ministry of Health expanded its existing influenza sentinel surveillance for severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) to include testing for 7 additional viral respiratory pathogens. This article describes the steps taken to implement expanded SARI surveillance in Vietnam and reports data from 1 year of expanded surveillance. Methods The process of expanding the suite of pathogens for routine testing by real‐time reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction (rRT‐PCR) included laboratory trainings, procurement/distribution of reagents, and strengthening and aligning SARI surveillance epidemiology practices at sentinel sites and regional institutes (RI). Results Surveillance data showed that of 4003 specimens tested by the RI laboratories, 20.2% (n = 810) were positive for influenza virus. Of the 3193 influenza‐negative specimens, 41.8% (n = 1337) were positive for at least 1 non‐influenza respiratory virus, of which 16.2% (n = 518), 13.4% (n = 428), and 9.6% (n = 308) tested positive for respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus, and adenovirus, respectively. Conclusions The Government of Vietnam has demonstrated that expanding respiratory viral surveillance by strengthening and building upon an influenza platform is feasible, efficient, and practical.