Abbott Global Viral Surveillance Program

Surging ahead. Staying informed.

“Viruses don’t stay still. We have to stay one step ahead or they are going to get ahead of us.”2


-Gavin Cloherty Ph.D., Head of Infectious Disease Research at Abbott Diagnostics

The race to stay ahead of viruses 

Since 1994, Abbott has been at the forefront of viral surveillance, with an unwavering commitment to monitor emerging and changing infectious diseases. As the only provider of infectious disease solutions with this large-scale Global Viral Surveillance Program, our mission is driven by two guiding principles:

  • Keeping pace with viral sequence heterogeneity and emerging strains in human populations
  • Enabling our tests to help detect diverse HIV and hepatitis strains regardless of where they evolve1


  1. Brennan CA, et al. HIV global surveillance: Foundation for retroviral discovery and assay development. Journal of Medical Virology. 2006; 78:S24-S29.
  2. Paxton, A. HBsAg tests, mutation in public health spotlight. CAPTODAY. April 19, 2018.

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How the program works

Driven by our partnerships with laboratories and organizations around the world, our program’s process consistently fuels discovery and innovation. These findings are then shared with our global collaborators and published in peer reviewed journals.


View the program pathway here >

Overall impact on the scientific community

Over 125 Peer Reviewed Published Manuscripts

Over 6000 Viral Sequences Deposited into GenBank Database1

Several Rare and New Strains Discovered2,3

  1. Rodgers, M. Protecting public health through the Abbott Global Surveillance Program. Government Gazette HIV Report. Published December 2018, page 81.
  2. Berg MG, et al. Discovery of a Novel Human Pegivirus in Blood Associated with Hepatitis C Virus Co-Infection. PLoS Pathogens. 2015 Dec 11;11(12):e1005325.
  3. Rodgers MA, et al. Identification of rare HIV-1 Group N, HBV AE, and HTLV-3 strains in rural South Cameroon. Virology. 2017 Apr;504:141-151.

Decades of Global Surveillance research consistently fuels Abbott’s next generation of infectious disease solutions.

More than 40-Years History of Abbott Diagnostics Innovations

Abbott continues to maintain Global Surveillance program for HIV & Hepatitis

Got a mystery you want to solve in your lab? Have an interesting sample or story to share?

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