Influenza in Canada--1995-1996 season.

Each year, from October to the following May, the Laboratory Centre for Disease Control (LCDC) maintains a national surveillance program for influenza. This program is supported by laboratories, and provincial and territorial epidemiologists who exchange information on cases, laboratory identifications, and outbreaks. During the 1995-1996 season, surveillance activities included the collection of weekly aggregated reports of virus identifications by laboratories via an interactive voice response system. Participating laboratories submitted detailed case-by-case reports of laboratory-confirmed infections, and provincial and territorial health departments provided weekly assessments of influenza-like illness (ILI) activity in the community.