Integration of Information Technology in West Nile Virus Surveillance in the Russian Federation

Introduction: The relevance of the problem discussed in this article is determined by the demand for effective ITassisted surveillance of the causative agent of West Nile fever at the national level.
Objective: To summarize the experience in integrating information technology into practical monitoring of the West Nile virus in the Russian Federation and to outline opportunities for improvement.
Materials and methods: We reviewed publications issued in 1999–2024 and indexed in international and domestic scientific bibliographic databases (PubMed, Scopus, and Russian Science Citation Index), reference epidemiologic editions, and electronic information resources. The search was conducted using the following keywords: West Nile fever, information technology, epidemiological surveillance, and pathogen monitoring. Of 6,799 search results, we selected 20 full-text publications corresponding to the purpose of the study and describing integration of various IT aspects in West Nile virus monitoring in the Russian Federation.
Results: The developed solutions are widely implemented in epidemiological surveillance subsystems at all organizational levels. They enable case identification, record-keeping of circulating virus genotypes, monitoring organization, and adjustment of sanitary and anti-epidemic (preventive) measures. Their prospects include establishing opportunities and regulatory frameworks, development of a unified platform for data accumulation and inventory of the natural foci of infection, and improving research into epidemiological situation forecasting.
Conclusions: The efficiency of West Nile virus surveillance has been significantly improved through created electronic databases, systems of information analysis, and GIS-based developments. However, the task of forecasting the epidemiological situation using predictive analytics models remains unresolved.

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