Can We Predict Virus Emergence?

Predicting novel emerging viruses that could cause a pandemic is the ultimate challenge. But even at an epidemic scale, predicting new virus strains—such as influenza and now SARS-CoV-2—is of great public health relevance. This talk provides an overview of worldwide ongoing surveillance for emerging viruses and the ways novel technology can accelerate these efforts. This talk also addresses how immune status, respiratory tract location, and cell type can shape virus diversity, and how infected individuals contribute to the viruses that are transmitted. The presented studies address the complex interplay between virus and host to better understand how viruses evolve.

Speakers

• Elodie Ghedin, Chief, Systems Genomics Section, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases