How Equipped Is New Zealand To Manage Bird Flu?

UC researchers are developing technology to speed up response times to serious biosecurity and epidemic threats such as bird flu.

 

University of Canterbury Associate Professor of Data Science Alex Gavryushkin is co-leading work on new algorithms that could provide real-time predictions in response to health and biosecurity events — including the Avian influenza.

“Our algorithms can present a range of possible outbreak scenarios, rather than just the one that’s the most statistically plausible, as well as updating their predictions in real time,” Associate Professor Gavryushkin says.

Developing new algorithms to manage biosecurity threats

New research will explore how algorithms could help speed up New Zealand’s response to serious biosecurity threats such as foot and mouth disease and stop them spreading.

University of Canterbury Associate Professor of Data Science Alex Gavryushkin is co-leading the research into using algorithms to help respond to a biosecurity outbreak swiftly and effectively. The algorithms can present a range of possible outbreak scenarios, rather than just the one that’s the most statistically likely, as well as updating their predictions in real-time.

In a globalised, interconnected world, new pathogens are only a plane or ship ride away and they can have serious implications for the local and global economy.

Associate Professor Gavryushkin says that “in Aotearoa New Zealand, agriculture is important for our economy and forms the basis of our global exports. If a highly contagious viral infection such as foot and mouth disease (FMD) were to arrive here, the cost could be upward of $16 billion, likely throwing the national economy into a recession.”