Global Database Hosts Genetic Data Of Flu Viruses.

When a deadly influenza virus appears and threatens to become a pandemic, time is of the essence. The 1918 flu epidemic infected a large portion of the global population and killed millions of people. The next pandemic is inevitable, and surveillance of flu viruses is essential through the timely sharing of flu virus genetic data with the scientific and research communities. A collaborative database has become prominent in recent years. Some countries have been reluctant to share flu viruses in the past, over concerns about transparency and lack of return in terms of access to resulting vaccines and benefit-sharing. However, an initiative created in 2008 appeared to have won international trust, in part because it addresses basic protection of intellectual property rights. It now hosts nearly 600,000 flu virus sequences, from all over the world, freely accessible on the conditions to adhere to its sharing mechanism, according to the initiative database. The Global Initiative on the Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) was launched during the 61st World Health Assembly in May 2008. GISAID is an open collaboration comprised of experts worldwide. GISAID’s EpiFlu database, hosted by the government of Germany, is, according to the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza (VIDRL) the most comprehensive database of flu viruses genetic sequence data.