The U.S. Outpatient Influenza-Like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet) is a national network of healthcare providers that monitor outpatient visits for influenza-like illness (ILI). It is a secure data repository hosted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and collects weekly data from outpatient providers to monitor influenza activity. 

Once you are enrolled as an ILINet Sentinel Provider, you can log into ILINet and enter your total patient visits and ILI visits by age group each week. Reports are due by Tuesday of the following week. 

Influenza surveillance reporting in Texas is voluntary, but greatly appreciated! Please contact your local health department or DSHS Public Health Region for more information. 

Your data is aggregated to inform DSHS’s weekly Texas Respiratory Virus Surveillance Report and CDC’s weekly FluView report to help track local, regional, state, and national trends, detect local outbreaks, and inform public health response. 

Collect from patients with recent onset of ILI symptoms (fever of 100°F or greater and cough or sore throat). Priority is often given to hospitalized patients, pediatric fatalities, outbreaks, or patients at high risk for complications. 

A nasopharyngeal (NP) swab in viral transport medium (VTM) is preferred. Follow your local public health laboratory’s guidelines for acceptable specimen types. 

Contact your local health department or DSHS Public Health Region to request swabs, viral transport media, and packaging materials. Some public health laboratories may provide specimen collection kits directly. 

If testing will be performed within 72 hours of specimen collection, store specimens at 2-8°C (refrigerated, not frozen) and ship with cold packs using appropriate Category B packaging. 

If testing will not be performed within 72 hours of specimen collection, store specimens at -70°C or below (frozen) and ship with dry ice using appropriate Category B packaging. 

Coordinate shipping with your public health laboratory or local health department. 

Send respiratory specimens to your local public health laboratory. Use the Public Health Laboratory Directory or contact your local health department or DSHS Public Health Region for guidance. 

Specimens may be rejected if they are

• Improperly labeled
• Leaking or damaged
• Submitted without a completed form
• Shipped at ambient temperature
• Collected using the wrong or expired media