Watching, Learning, Acting: AI and One Health on the Front Foot

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control's weekly communicable disease threats report for 19-25 September provides updates on multiple infectious disease concerns across the EU/EEA, including respiratory viruses, Ebola, West Nile Virus, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever, dengue, chikungunya, and vibrio contamination in coastal waters.

Saudi Arabia has built substantial artificial intelligence health governance infrastructure but lacks binding, AI-specific health laws and independent third-party oversight comparable to European standards, according to a comparative analysis against WHO and EU regulatory benchmarks. The study identifies key gaps in data governance, ethics codification, and workforce capacity building that Saudi Arabia should address to strengthen its framework for safely deploying AI in clinical diagnosis, disease surveillance, and health data systems.

Machine-learning techniques are being applied to overcome limitations in CRISPR gene-editing technology by optimising critical components such as guide RNA design, protein engineering and target recognition, with potential applications across One Health sectors including agriculture and medicine.

Claude, an AI system, has identified a previously unknown enzyme system featuring CRISPR-like repeating sequences, suggesting artificial intelligence can accelerate the discovery of novel biological mechanisms with potential applications in genetic engineering and biotechnology.

The UK Health Security Agency is expanding wastewater surveillance using £3 million in funding to monitor hospital wastewater and high-traffic locations, strengthening early detection of dangerous pathogens across the country. This expanded surveillance network aims to provide an earlier warning system for potential disease outbreaks before they become widespread in the population.

The UK Health Security Agency and PACE have made WHO-prioritised bacteria available to researchers to support studies aimed at combating antimicrobial resistance.