Towards a genomics-informed, real-time, global pathogen surveillance system

Nat Rev Genet. 2018 Jan;19(1):9-20. doi: 10.1038/nrg.2017.88. Epub 2017 Nov 13.

Abstract

The recent Ebola and Zika epidemics demonstrate the need for the continuous surveillance, rapid diagnosis and real-time tracking of emerging infectious diseases. Fast, affordable sequencing of pathogen genomes - now a staple of the public health microbiology laboratory in well-resourced settings - can affect each of these areas. Coupling genomic diagnostics and epidemiology to innovative digital disease detection platforms raises the possibility of an open, global, digital pathogen surveillance system. When informed by a One Health approach, in which human, animal and environmental health are considered together, such a genomics-based system has profound potential to improve public health in settings lacking robust laboratory capacity.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Communicable Diseases, Emerging / epidemiology*
  • Communicable Diseases, Emerging / etiology
  • Communicable Diseases, Emerging / genetics
  • Computer Systems
  • Environmental Health
  • Epidemics
  • Genomics
  • Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / epidemiology
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Humans
  • Metagenomics
  • Models, Biological
  • Molecular Epidemiology
  • Public Health
  • Public Health Surveillance / methods*