BANGKOK (AFP): Aglobal network of doctors and laboratories is working to identify emerging viral threats linked to climate change to prevent the next pandemic. The coalition of “virus hunters” has discovered everything from a rare tick-borne disease in Thailand to an unexpected outbreak of a midge-spread infection in Colombia. “The list of threats is constantly changing, as we saw with COVID-19,” said Gavin Cloherty, an infectious disease expert and head of the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition.
“We must stay vigilant about known threats and be aware of new ones.” The coalition includes doctors and scientists from universities and health institutions worldwide, funded by healthcare and medical device giant Abbott. Their work provides Abbott with early insights for developing diagnostic tests crucial for pandemic response.
The coalition has sequenced about 13,000 samples since its inception in 2021. In Colombia, they identified an outbreak of the Oropouche virus, which had rarely been seen in the region. Phylogenetic analysis traced the virus to Peru or Ecuador, not Brazil.
The coalition helped identify a tick-borne virus in Thailand behind a cluster of mysterious cases. Testing revealed many samples were positive for severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTSV), a diagnosis that had been difficult due to the lack of PCR and serology tests. The coalition’s efforts are increasingly important as climate change expands the range of infectious diseases.
Warmer.