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American multinational medical devices and healthcare company Abbott is partnering with the Climate Amplified Disease and Epidemics (CLIMADE) consortium, a group of more than 100 global scientists in public health agencies, academia and industry focused on using data science technology and diagnostic testing to assess and potentially mitigate the impact climate change has on disease outbreaks.
Research has found that climate change could impact more than half of known infectious diseases, which commonly spread via water or animals carrying diseases, such as West Nile virus and malaria.
As part of the consortium, scientists trained in infectious diseases, bioinformatics and data science will develop technologies that can aggregate environmental, weather and viral sequencing data sets to predict if conditions could cause a disease outbreak. If a potential outbreak is identified, resources and rapid surveillance testing can be sent to that location to prevent further spread.
The CLIMADE consortium will be focused on improving surveillance tools and expanding access to resources to decrease the impact of climate amplified diseases and epidemics.
Abbott and its partners in the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition will provide viral sequencing and testing data as part of the technology being developed and can provide diagnostic testing for potential outbreaks.
