AI-based Infectious Disease Surveillance System Sent First Warning of Novel Coronavirus

An artificial intelligence (AI) warning system run by digital health firm BlueDot (Toronto, Canada) was among the first in the world to identify the emerging risk from COVID-19 in Hubei province and notify its clients via the company’s Insights platform.

BlueDot’s AI engine had earlier successfully predicted that the Zika virus would spread to Florida six months before it happened and the 2014 Ebola outbreak would leave West Africa. Using artificial and human intelligence, BlueDot’s outbreak risk platform tracks over 150 infectious diseases globally in 65 languages, around the clock and anticipates their spread and impact. The company empowers national and international health agencies, hospitals, and businesses to better anticipate, and respond to, emerging threats. BlueDot was among the first in the world to identify the emerging risk from, and publish a scientific paper on, COVID-19, and delivers regular critical Insights to its partners and customers worldwide to mobilize timely, effective, efficient, coordinated, and measured responses.


BlueDot anticipates the impact of disease spread globally and globally using diverse datasets such as billions of flight itineraries, real time climate conditions, health system capacity, and animal & insect populations. BlueDot disseminates bespoke, near-real-time insights to clients including governments, hospitals and airlines, revealing COVID-19’s movements. The company’s intelligence is based on over 40 pathogen-specific datasets reflecting disease mobility and outbreak potential. BlueDot also delivers regular reporting to answer the most pressing questions, including which countries reported local cases, how severely cities outside of China were affected, and which cities risked transmitting COVID-19 despite having no official cases.

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