PREDICT’s surveillance for emerging pathogens focuses on areas of the world at the highest risk for zoonotic disease emergence. The goal is to move countries away from a reactive post-outbreak response to a proactive approach in which pathogens of pandemic potential are discovered at their source before diseases have the opportunity to spillover.

Our staff and partners focus surveillance on species most likely to serve as reservoirs of disease, and we work at human-animal interfaces where pathogen transmission is most likely to occur.

Traditional public health and disease surveillance systems have ignored the inextricable link between animals, humans and the environment. PREDICT has been instrumental in broadening understanding, improving capabilities, and linking key stakeholders to build a more comprehensive and flexible approach to surveillance. Rather than prescribing an across-the-board surveillance plan, we allow project leads in each country to establish targeted, measurable, adaptive, and responsive approaches that are integrated across health sectors.