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PODD: A participatory surveillance platform that empowers communities to prevent zoonotic spillovers.

PODD: A participatory surveillance platform that empowers communities to prevent zoonotic spillovers.

PODD is a participatory surveillance platform that empowers communities to prevent zoonotic spillovers.

 

We incentivize livestock owners to become “disease detectives,” operationalizing the critically important One Health approach, and preventing the next global pandemic before it begins. While you cannot train thousands of farmers to be epidemiologists, you can teach them to be the eyes and ears of the public health system.

 

We give farmers, livestock owners, and community volunteers a mobile application to take pictures of sick animals. The application sends these photos, along with observation notes (and geolocation data), to local veterinarians and health officials. When enough cases of sick animals with similar characteristics are reported within a defined radius, PODD triggers automated response actions. 

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