April 21, 2023 – Abbott announced that it 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.
A changing climate, such as warmer temperatures and a rise in extreme weather events like droughts and floods, has the potential to accelerate the spread of disease, which could fuel a new era of pandemics. 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. The global group of scientists is led by Tulio de Oliveira, Ph.D., a professor at Stellenbosch University and Director of the Centre for Epidemic Response and Innovation (CERI) in South Africa as well as Luiz Carlos Alcantara, Ph.D., a professor at the Fundação Osvaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) in Brazil and Edward Holmes, Ph.D., an evolutionary biologist and virologist and professor at the University of Sydney. CLIMADE members include public health agencies, like the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), that bring decades of experience in genomics surveillance and epidemic response, as well as academic organizations such as the Broad Institute, University of Washington and University of Oxford.
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.
CLIMADE’s initial work will start with disease surveillance in Africa and expand to countries around the world that are often impacted by infectious disease outbreaks.
Learn More Abbott and new global consortium partnership address viral outbreaks caused by climate change