Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 16, 2026
19:57
An Affordable HIV-1 Drug Resistance Monitoring Method for Resource Limited Settings
Published on: March 30, 2014
18.5K
Pathogen genomic surveillance status among lower resource settings in Asia
Marya Getchell1, Suci Wulandari2, Ruklanthi de Alwis3,4,5
1Programme in Health Services and Systems Research, Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore, Singapore.
Nature Microbiology
|September 24, 2024
Summary
Asia
Area of Science:
- Public Health
- Genomics
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Asia faces significant risks from emerging infectious diseases, necessitating robust pathogen surveillance.
- Effective use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) is crucial for enhancing regional health security.
- Assessing current pathogen genomic surveillance capacity in low-resource Asian settings is a priority.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and apply a framework for assessing pathogen genomic surveillance capacity in South and Southeast Asia.
- To identify barriers and facilitators for implementing next-generation sequencing in pathogen surveillance in low-resource settings.
- To inform strategies for strengthening regional health security through improved genomic surveillance.
Main Methods:
- Developed a pathogen genomic surveillance assessment framework.
- Collected data from 42 institutions across 13 countries in South and Southeast Asia between June 2022 and March 2023.
- Assessed institutional capacity, strategic planning, NGS application, and identified implementation barriers.
Main Results:
- Pathogen genomics capacity exists across the surveyed countries, with NGS capabilities present in all.
- Seven countries have strategic plans for integrating pathogen genomics, but overall NGS utilization is limited and under-resourced.
- NGS application was primarily focused on human surveillance, with limited use in environmental and animal interface surveillance; key barriers include funding, supply chains, personnel, and quality assurance.
Conclusions:
- While pathogen genomics capacity is present in Asia, its effective implementation for surveillance is hindered by resource limitations and specific challenges.
- Coordinated regional efforts are essential to support national planning, address capacity gaps, improve quality assurance, and facilitate data sharing for informed decision-making.
- Strengthening genomic surveillance is vital for Asia's preparedness against emerging infectious diseases.
Related Concept Videos
01:26Principles of Disease Surveillance
Disease surveillance is the systematic collection, analysis, and interpretation of health data essential to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of public health practice. This process integrates data dissemination to entities responsible for preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability. Surveillance systems provide crucial information for action, helping public health authorities make informed decisions to manage and prevent outbreaks, ensure public safety, optimize...
01:28Infectious Diseases and Their Occurrence
Infectious diseases appear in populations through various transmission patterns, influenced by pathogen characteristics, population immunity, environmental conditions, and social behavior. Understanding these patterns is essential for effective public health surveillance and intervention. These categories—sporadic, outbreak, epidemic, pandemic, and endemic—help frame the nature and scope of disease events.Sporadic diseases occur irregularly and infrequently, without a predictable temporal or...
01:23Investigation of Disease Outbreaks
Multistate foodborne outbreaks pose significant public health risks and require meticulous investigation to identify sources and implement control measures. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) utilizes a dynamic seven-step process for these investigations, integrating data from laboratories, interviews, and environmental assessments to protect public health.Outbreak Detection: The detection of multistate outbreaks typically begins with PulseNet, the CDC's national laboratory...
01:25Rapid Identification of Pathogens
MALDI-TOF MS has transformed clinical microbiology by offering a rapid and reliable method for pathogen identification. The traditional approach to microbial identification typically involves time-consuming culture techniques and biochemical tests, which can delay the initiation of appropriate antimicrobial therapy. MALDI-TOF MS avoids these delays by using characteristic ribosomal protein mass patterns of microbial cells, enabling accurate species-level identification within minutes.Principle...