Abstract
The threat of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases continues to be a challenge to public and global health security. Cooperative biological engagement programs act to build partnerships and collaborations between scientists and health professionals to strengthen capabilities in biosurveillance. Biosurveillance is the systematic process of detecting, reporting, and responding to especially dangerous pathogens and pathogens of pandemic potential before they become outbreaks, epidemics, and pandemics. One important tool in biosurveillance is next generation sequencing. Expensive sequencing machines, reagents, and supplies make it difficult for countries to adopt this technology. Cooperative engagement programs help by providing funding for technical assistance to strengthen sequencing capabilities. Through workshops and training, countries are able to learn sequencing and bioinformatics, and implement these tools in their biosurveillance programs. Cooperative programs have an important role in building and sustaining collaborations among institutions and countries. One of the most important pieces in fostering these collaborations is trust. Trust provides the confidence that a successful collaboration will benefit all parties involved. With sequencing, this enables the sharing of pathogen samples and sequences. Obtaining global sequencing data helps to identify unknown etiological agents, track pathogen evolution and infer transmission networks throughout the duration of a pandemic. Having sequencing technology in place for biosurveillance generates the capacity to provide real-time data to understand and respond to pandemics. We highlight the need for these programs to continue to strengthen sequencing in biosurveillance. By working together to strengthen sequencing capabilities, trust can be formed, benefitting global health in the face of biological threats.
Highlights
Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases are a major challenge for public health and economic security worldwide [1]
Cooperative engagement programs are designed to build and strengthen capabilities and capacities in biosurveillance, biosecurity, and biosafety around the world. These programs aim to create, foster, and sustain international collaborations among health professionals, disease diagnostic laboratories, and infectious disease scientists [5, 6]. They primarily focus on especially dangerous pathogens and pathogens of pandemic potential, and include those that may be used in bioterrorism
These programs have been implemented in the United States, Canada, Germany, and other countries with the goal of reducing the threat of infectious diseases by promoting global health security
Summary
Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases are a major challenge for public health and economic security worldwide [1]. Cooperative engagement programs bring together researchers, scientists, and health professionals from all over the world with the shared goal of reducing the threat of infectious diseases [5, 6] These programs help to establish and strengthen both biosurveillance efforts and research capabilities to answer important questions regarding infectious diseases (Figure 1). Integration of metadata with genomic data is key when adding it to a repository, especially linking raw data and processed data that may end up in different databases These data are extremely important for research related to biosurveillance and sequencing pathogens during a pandemic, and help with contextualizing sequencing data and decision making. The trust gained from and promoted by cooperative engagement programs plays a major role in the sharing of sequence data among institutions and countries, as well as depositing sequences in public repositories (e.g., GISAID [https://www.gisaid.org]) (Figure 1). This makes collaborative efforts to stand up sequencing infrastructure an important component in decision making during an ongoing pandemic
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
