A method is disclosed for providing early detection, classification, and reporting of health-related events in a population. The method includes capturing sets of specific emergency room patient information from a subset of the population as the patient information is first electronically entered into, for example, an electronic medical record (EMR). The patient information is pre-processed, transmitted to and stored in a central database in a central computer facility. The patient information is sorted and analyzed by the central computer facility to detect any health-related events in the population and to generate corresponding alerts. The alerts are electronically reported to designated authorities such as health officials and other government authorities such as the CDC.