This study analyses the perspectives of the organization of epidemiological surveillance (ES) in two kinds of organizations. The first is a set of undifferentiated practices; the second is a set of specific practices carried out in the local health system of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo Federal State. Both organizations are described in general terms and discussed according to the view of local health professionals and professionals of the epidemiological surveillance. This study presupposes that the decentralization should be supported by discussions regarding forms of organization among the groups involved in it. The guiding concepts of this research are nuclei and field of competence and responsibility. Seventeen professionals were the subjects of this study. Eleven participants were nurses and six were managers of the municipal health department of Ribeirão Preto. Data was obtained from documents and semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed through the method of content analysis, theme modality. The theme "the epidemiological surveillance practice: between the general and the specific" was created according to the following signification nuclei: specific and general knowledge, and collective actions.
epidemiological surveillance; decentralization; health services