Table 1. Qualitative comparison of attributes of SORMAS and the conventional surveillance system in response to monkeypox outbreak in Nigeria, November 2017–July 2019.

Attribute	SORMAS	CS	Comments
Average time for data to arrive at NCDC from LGAs	2 min	2 d	For the CS, the DSNOs sent the paper case forms by post to NCDC, thus requiring longer time for case forms to arrive at NCDC.
Average time to update data (sample results from the laboratory, case classification, outcome, contacts) per case	5 min	20 min	Update in SORMAS requires searching for a case in the case directory and directly updating the fields. For the CS, the database was Excel (https://www.microsoft.com), and each type of case data was stored on a different Excel sheet, thus increasing the time and complexity of updating case data.
Workload to transfer cases from paper forms to database at NCDC	Less	More	With the CS, all case forms were entered in an Excel database at NCDC; with SORMAS, 90 (38%) of the 240 cases were entered directly from the field by DSNOs.
Availability of dashboard and statistics module to generate epidemiologic indicators for disease surveillance (e.g., case classification status, epidemic curve, laboratory test results, fatalities, and map of spatial distribution of cases and contact persons)	Yes	No	SORMAS had a dashboard that displayed the needed surveillance indicators; the CS did not.

*CS, conventional system; DSNOs, district surveillance notification officers; NCDC, Nigeria Centre for Disease Control; LGAs, local government areas; SORMAS, Surveillance Outbreak Response Management and Analysis System.