Documentation Practices for Viral Disease Surveillance Reports in Bauchi State Health Facilities

Accurate and timely documentation of viral disease surveillance data is foundational to the Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) system, yet documentation quality in health facilities across northern Nigerian states is inconsistently evaluated. This study examines documentation practices for viral disease surveillance reports at primary and secondary health facilities in Bauchi State, North East Nigeria. A cross-sectional facility audit will be conducted at 50 health facilities across Bauchi, Alkaleri, and Toro local government areas. Auditors will review monthly IDSR report registers, case-based investigation forms, and line lists for ten priority viral diseases including measles, Lassa fever, cerebrospinal meningitis, and influenza-like illness. Documentation quality will be assessed across dimensions of completeness, accuracy, timeliness of submission to the LGA level, and consistency between facility records and district-level compiled data. Facility health records officers and disease surveillance and notification officers will be interviewed on documentation challenges. National IDSR performance reviews consistently identify documentation quality as one of the weakest components of subnational surveillance in northern Nigerian states. Findings will characterise specific documentation gaps in Bauchi State's viral surveillance reporting infrastructure and provide recommendations for the State Epidemiology Unit to implement standardised mentoring and audit feedback mechanisms. Keywords: disease surveillance, IDSR, documentation, Bauchi State, viral diseases