The Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases – ProMED – is an is an internet-based reporting system dedicated to the rapid global dissemination of information on outbreaks of infectious diseases and acute exposures to toxins that affect human health, including those in animals and in plants grown for food or animal feed. Electronic communications enable ProMED to provide up-to-date and reliable news about threats to human, animal, and plant health around the world as quickly as possible. By providing early warning of outbreaks of emerging and re-emerging diseases, public health precautions at all levels can be taken in a timely manner to prevent epidemic transmission and to save lives. ProMED is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID) www.isid.org