challenge
Monitoring viruses and pandemics digitally from the source
challenge
Monitoring viruses and pandemics digitally from the source
Most major infectious diseases – such as avian and swine flu – originated in animals but became dangerous when they spilled over into humans. The locations where those encounters take place are the sources of pandemics which, when combined with the spread of airline routes across the world, create the possibility of rapid spread of new infectious diseases. Often times the disease is not considered truly a threat until it reaches the countries with the technology and scientist to officially study how infectious, the source, etc. If we used digital technology to map and track infectious diseases right from their source, human kind could limit the spread of future disease and prevent other pandemics.
Global Viral (GV) fills that gap by creating an extensive network of viral “listening posts” in villages from Sierra Leone to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and compiling a registry of viruses in other regions where pandemics often originate. Founder Nathan Wolfe and his multidisciplinary team have spent the past 10 years developing what they believe could become a global system to prevent pandemics. As well as the network of listening posts in Africa and Asia, GV has created a network – the Global Viral Fellows Initiative – to bring together some of the world's leading research, data and policy experts to address the most important global infectious disease threats. Global Viral uses digital technology to map and track the sources of new diseases.