Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE) Operations and Maintenance Support

The due date for receipt of proposals has been changed to Sept 15, 2016 at 1pm EST.

Under the authority of FAR 6.302-1, Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) contemplates entering into a negotiated, Time and Materials type contract with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), of Laure, MD. Solicitation procedures will be IAW/FAR Part 15 with applicable subpart 16.601.

Under this contract JHU/APL will provide enhancement and maintenance of the Electronic Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE); JHU/APL will also ingest, analyze, and visualize LabCorp data and other potential data sources. ESSENCE is a web-based syndromic surveillance system designed for the early detection of disease outbreaks, suspicious patterns of illness, and public health emergencies. ESSENCE collects, processes, and analyzes non-traditional data sources (i.e. chief complaints from hospital emergency departments, poison control center calls, over-the-counter pharmaceutical sales, etc.) to identify anomalous disease activity in a community. The data can be queried, analyzed, and visualized both temporally and spatially by the end user.

To the best of our knowledge JHU/APL is the sole developer of the ESSENCE software and is the only one who can provide operational maintenance, support, and enhancements to the ESSENCE system per their license agreement. However, any responsible source who wishes to be considered may submit a capability statement addressing the requirements of the solicitation for our review prior to the solicitation closing date. The anticipated solicitation issue date is September 6, 2016. The anticipated date of award is October 3, 2016. The total period of performance shall be 24 months from date of award. All questions/concerns about the RFP shall be submitted via e-mail to HSZ5@cdc.gov. It is your responsibility to keep up with additional postings regarding this announcement on the Fedbizopps Website.