Integrated Surveillance of Pathogens with Pandemic and/or Epidemic Potential

Dear Colleagues,

In an increasingly interconnected world, the early detection and control of pandemic- and epidemic-prone pathogens require surveillance systems that extend beyond single-pathogen or siloed sectoral approaches. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the urgent need for countries to develop agile and flexible surveillance systems that can rapidly adapt to evolving public health threats and needs.

Integrated surveillance—combining data from multiple pathogens and sources (human, animal, and environmental health) in line with the One Health approach—enables a more comprehensive understanding of transmission dynamics, shared risk factors, and early signals of outbreaks. This facilitates faster, more coordinated, and more effective public health responses to mitigate the impact of emerging threats.

The development of new technologies, including high-throughput diagnostic platforms, rapid testing, genomic surveillance, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, offers unprecedented opportunities to strengthen surveillance systems and enable proactive, timely public health interventions.

A central theme of this Special Issue is the alignment of surveillance efforts with country-level priorities, ensuring that systems are context-sensitive, fit for purpose, and sustainable. In an era of constrained financial resources, integrated surveillance systems may offer a cost-beneficial alternative to fragmented, disease-specific programs. By leveraging shared infrastructure, laboratory networks, digital tools, and workforce capacities, integrated approaches not only enhance outbreak preparedness but also support more effective monitoring of both endemic and emerging health threats.

This Special Issue welcomes submissions of original research articles, reviews, case studies, and policy analyses—including, but not limited to, novel methods, practical tools, results from integrated pathogen surveillance, innovative models, lessons learned, and real-world applications of multi-pathogen surveillance systems.

Dr. Jean Michel Héraud
Dr. Gamou Fall
Dr. Rila Ratovoson
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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