Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI) Surveillance Network (SSuN) Cycle 5

CDC announces availability of fiscal year 2024 funding for a cooperative agreement for Cycle 5 of the STI Surveillance Network (SSuN). Continuing resurgence of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), along with the imperative to implement syndemic approaches to disease surveillance addressing related epidemics such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and mpox (Orthopox virus previously referred to as monkeypox) inform this competitive Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) which will support integrated sentinel and enhanced surveillance at the local, state, and national level. Emergent issues of concern such as mpox and antimicrobial resistant STIs add urgency to the maintenance of robust syndemic surveillance at the community level and in sexual health clinical settings. The purpose of this NOFO is to support sentinel and enhanced surveillance for STIs providing complete demographics, behavioral risk, clinical and preventive services data missing in routine reporting. Sentinel clinic surveillance, enhanced investigations of reported cases, and special projects funded by this NOFO will provide epidemiologic and preventive services information filling gaps in knowledge regarding STI prevention priorities. These data improve the ability of public health agencies to address STI/HIV health equity outcomes and syndemic interactions in populations with shared risks.This NOFO supports two core strategies for (A) sentinel surveillance in STI/sexual health clinical facilities, and (B) enhanced case-based surveillance in community settings and one supplemental strategy (Strategy C) for special surveillance projects of national or local interest. Both core strategies integrate a syndemic approach to monitoring STIs, HIV, behavioral data, and on preventive services accessed by all persons presenting for care in sexual health settings, and persons diagnosed and reported with selected STIs from all provider settings in defined geographic areas. The goal of this NOFO is to monitor and report trends in patient characteristics, screening, and diagnoses to identify opportunities and gaps across the STI/HIV prevention and surveillance continuum. Protocols are designed to address critical information gaps in routine national case reporting and incorporate local flexibility to respond to emergent health issues by supporting a network of geographically diverse health departments and an expanded network of clinical partners. These efforts complement existing state, local and national surveillance strategies and enhance the capacity of health departments to collect high-quality, timely data to inform disease prevention and control activities.