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. 2022 Mar 4;65(8):1504–1516. doi: 10.1007/s11427-021-2071-x

Surveillance of emerging infectious diseases for biosecurity

Rongzhang Hao 1,2,#, Yuqi Liu 3,4,#, Wanzhu Shen 1,2, Rongtao Zhao 4, Bo Jiang 1,2, Hongbin Song 3,4,✉, Muyang Yan 5,✉, Hui Ma 6,✉
PMCID: PMC8918423  PMID: 35287183

Abstract

Emerging infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, continue to pose significant threats to human beings and their surroundings. In addition, biological warfare, bioterrorism, biological accidents, and harmful consequences arising from dual-use biotechnology also pose a challenge for global biosecurity. Improving the early surveillance capabilities is necessary for building a common biosecurity shield for the global community of health for all. Furthermore, surveillance could provide early warning and situational awareness of biosecurity risks. However, current surveillance systems face enormous challenges, including technical shortages, fragmented management, and limited international cooperation. Detecting emerging biological risks caused by unknown or novel pathogens is of particular concern. Surveillance systems must be enhanced to effectively mitigate biosecurity risks. Thus, a global strategy of meaningful cooperation based on efficient integration of surveillance at all levels, including interdisciplinary integration of techniques and interdepartmental integration for effective management, is urgently needed. In this paper, we review the biosecurity risks by analyzing potential factors at all levels globally. In addition to describing biosecurity risks and their impact on global security, we also focus on analyzing the challenges to traditional surveillance and propose suggestions on how to integrate current technologies and resources to conduct effective global surveillance.

Supporting Information

The supporting information is available online at 10.1007/s11427-021-2071-x. The supporting materials are published as submitted, without typesetting or editing. The responsibility for scientific accuracy and content remains entirely with the authors.

Keywords: surveillance, biosecurity, early warning, emerging infectious disease

Electronic supplementary material

11427_2021_2071_MOESM1_ESM.pdf (349.2KB, pdf)

Table S1. The representative surveillance system in the world.

Compliance and ethics The author(s) declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Footnotes

Contributed equally to this work

Contributor Information

Hongbin Song, Email: hongbinsong@263.net.

Muyang Yan, Email: yanmy301@sina.com.

Hui Ma, Email: mahui-28@163.com.

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Associated Data

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Supplementary Materials

11427_2021_2071_MOESM1_ESM.pdf (349.2KB, pdf)

Table S1. The representative surveillance system in the world.

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