The Epidemiological Alert are released in order to provide information about the occurrence of international public health events confirmed by Member States, as well as recommendations issued by the Pan American Health Organization.

The Epidemiological Updates are released as new information becomes available regarding events previously shared through Epidemiological Alerts.

The Epidemiological Alerts and Updates are primarily of events caused by infectious agents, although they may also be of events concerning contaminated goods, food safety, or of chemical or radionuclear origin, per the provisions of the International Health Regulations (IHR (2005)).

These releases complement the WHO Diseases Outbreak News, which refer to worldwide events of public health.