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Utah County approves use of EpiTrax disease surveillance system with state health department
Summary
The Utah County Commission approved an agreement to use EpiTrax, the state's electronic disease‑surveillance system. County epidemiology staff said the system tracks case data (not audio/video), that state and local health departments access the data, and de‑identified data are forwarded to the CDC; vote 3–0.
The Utah County Commission voted unanimously to approve an agreement with the Utah Department of Health to use EpiTrax, an electronic disease‑surveillance and case‑management system used by state and local public health jurisdictions.
Curtis Jones, Bureau Director of Epidemiology at the County Health Department, told commissioners that county staff enter case information into EpiTrax and that the state also has access; he said the system aggregates and monitors disease trends and that de‑identified data are forwarded to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Jones addressed privacy concerns directly, saying the system is for tracking disease numbers and transmission pathways, not for audio/video monitoring of individuals.
A commissioner asked whether EpiTrax involves visual or audio surveillance; Jones replied that ‘‘we're not, like, bugging people's houses. We're just tracking the disease and the progress that's making.’’ The exchange was followed by a motion to approve item 13, which passed 3–0.
The agreement makes Utah County a participating local health jurisdiction in the statewide EpiTrax implementation and is intended to improve outbreak detection and coordination with the state health department and federal partners. The county indicated it will retain its local access while the state maintains broader access for public‑health coordination.
The commission did not attach additional restrictions to the agreement during the motion; next administrative steps include executing the paperwork and integrating county workflows into the system.
