The epidemiology staff of the State health agencies in Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming jointly propose to conduct regional disease surveillance, and to collaboratively enhance epidemiologic capacity in response to the threat of bioterrorism. A major innovative feature of the proposal is surveillance for animal diseases and integration of the data into existing communicable disease surveillance infrastructure. This will involve a new, strong partnership with the veterinary medical community and acquisition of disease intelligence from other unconventional sources, including: poison control centers; 911 dispatchers; game wardens; animal shelters; medical examiners; coroners; phone in Ask-a-nurse services, etc. The most significant feature of the proposal is a plan to initiate surveillance based on the appearance of unexplained acute illness and early-stage disease symptoms. This activity will increase the sensitivity of a surveillance system and improve its ability to rapidly detect not only a bioterrorist incident, but also naturally occurring disease outbreaks. Table, figure