Surveillance staff are vital to the success of surveillance of infectious diseases. In this study, we interviewed staff of the Communicable Diseases Surveillance System (CDSS) in Khartoum state individually and in focus groups to assess their views about the quality of the system for the years 2005-07. The quality of CDSS was considered poor because the system was not representative as it included neither the private nor military sectors nor the important teaching hospitals. It also lacked timeliness due to poor documentation, was inflexible since it did not rapidly respond to emerging and re-emerging diseases such as SARS and avian flu in its notification lists, and it did not use the data collected to apply interventions for control and prevention of communicable diseases on a routine basis. While staff were committed to the surveillance system and felt they worked hard, they were also demotivated and in the long run this might affect their performance. Il n'avait pas non plus la souplesse requise, car il ne pouvait répondre rapidement aux cas de maladies émergentes ou réémergentes, tels le syndrome respiratoire aigu sévère et la grippe aviaire, dans les listes de notification. En outre, les données collectées dans le système n'étaient pas exploitées de manière systématique pour mettre en oeuvre des interventions de lutte contre les maladies transmissibles. Même si le personnel était dévoué au système de surveillance et avait le sentiment de travailler dur, une certaine démotivation se faisait sentir et pourrait au long cours influer sur la performance.