The United States Department of Defense and the International Health Regulations (2005): perceptions, pitfalls and progress towards implementation

The World Health Organiza-tion’s (WHO’s) International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) form the central guiding framework for both reporting of public health threats and potential public health emergencies of international concern.In recent years, the Department of Defense network has established disease surveillance in collaboration with host countries and has built a core capacity within each host country for sustained monitoring of respiratory disease activ-ity within their borders. This network has demonstrated the ability to iden-tify and respond quickly to public health emergencies of international concern, as illustrated in the influenza pandemic of 2009–10, and has also provided multiple viral-strain contributions to influenza vaccines over the past decade.