The Emerging Infections Program (EIP) is a collaborative effort between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States Department of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, 11 states including Georgia, and in some states, their academic partners. Georgia became an EIP member in 1996 with activities in the 8 counties of metropolitan Atlanta. The EIP was extended to cover the entire state of Georgia in 1999. All states with EIPs have two core active, laboratory-based surveillance systems: Active Bacterial Core Surveillance (ABCs) and FoodNet.