Page "Bioterrorism" Paragraph 48

In 1999, the University of Pittsburgh's Center for Biomedical Informatics deployed the first automated bioterrorism detection system, called RODS ( Real-Time Outbreak Disease Surveillance ).

RODS is designed to draw collect data from many data sources and use them to perform signal detection, that is, to detect a possible bioterrorism event at the earliest possible moment.

RODS, and other systems like it, collect data from sources including clinic data, laboratory data, and data from over-the-counter drug sales.

In 2000, Michael Wagner, the codirector of the RODS laboratory, and Ron Aryel, a subcontractor, conceived the idea of obtaining live data feeds from " non-traditional " ( non-health-care ) data sources.

The RODS laboratory's first efforts eventually led to the establishment of the National Retail Data Monitor, a system which collects data from 20, 000 retail locations nation-wide.