Turning global epidemiological data into an integrated digital environment for outbreak monitoring and research

Developed by the Near East University, Institute of Experimental Health Sciences (DESAM), the World Outbreak Tracking Portal is an innovation-driven digital platform designed to monitor infectious disease outbreaks, case numbers, mortality data, and outbreak alerts across the world. Bringing epidemiological information from multiple official international sources together on a single dashboard, The portal provides an integrated framework for monitoring the global distribution and dynamics of infectious diseases.

Infectious disease outbreaks remain one of the most persistent challenges to global public health. Increased international mobility, climate and environmental changes, population movements, urbanization, and changing interactions between humans, animals, and vectors can contribute to the emergence and geographical expansion of infectious diseases. Rapid access to reliable epidemiological information is therefore essential for understanding how outbreaks develop, identifying changes in transmission patterns, and supporting timely public health surveillance.

One platform, multiple authoritative sources

The World Outbreak Tracking Portal addresses this need by compiling data obtained from authoritative international public health organizations, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), together with other official sources. Rather than requiring researchers and public health professionals to follow multiple independent databases, the portal brings relevant outbreak information together within a unified and accessible digital environment.

The portal’s surveillance interface allows users to filter data by disease, country or region, data source, and time period.

Broad pathogen and geographical coverage

The platform currently monitors a broad spectrum of 25 pathogens of major public health importance, including West Nile virus, chikungunya virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, dengue virus, ebolaviruses, hepatitis A virus, hepatitis B virus, hepatitis C virus, influenza A virus, influenza B virus, human immunodeficiency virus, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, mpox, measles virus, respiratory syncytial virus, yellow fever virus, Plasmodium spp., hantaviruses, Vibrio cholerae, Mycobacterium tuberculosis, rabies virus, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi, Corynebacterium diphtheriae, Bordetella pertussis, and Zika virus. By incorporating diseases with different transmission routes, geographical distributions, and epidemiological characteristics, the portal enables the simultaneous monitoring of multiple infectious disease threats within a single surveillance framework.

A major strength of the World Outbreak Tracking Portal is its extensive geographical coverage. The system incorporates epidemiological data from countries and territories across Türkiye, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Oceania. This broad international scope enables the monitoring and assessment of both country-specific developments and wider regional and global patterns of infectious disease activity.

AI-assisted data integration

To support this comprehensive coverage, AI is used to systematically gather data from predefined and authoritative sources, including the ministries of health of each country and official news agencies. The collected data are then automatically normalized and stored in the database in a standardized format, enabling consistent and efficient downstream analysis across different countries and data sources.

How the platform works: from authoritative data sources and AI-assisted data integration to standardized data, dashboard visualization, and epidemiological modelling.

From case reporting to transmission dynamics

Beyond presenting reported cases, mortality figures, and outbreak alerts, the portal incorporates mathematical modelling to evaluate changes in disease transmission. In particular, the system follows the basic reproduction number (R₀) and the time-varying/effective reproduction number (Rₜ). R₀ provides a mathematical representation of transmission potential under defined baseline conditions, while Rₜ reflects how transmission changes over time as population immunity, interventions, behaviour, and other epidemiological conditions evolve. Monitoring these parameters alongside reported epidemiological data provides an additional analytical dimension for evaluating outbreak dynamics.

An example of the portal’s transmission-dynamics interface, displaying time-varying/effective reproduction number (Rₜ) estimates for Influenza A over time using different calculation approaches.

Global Influenza A transmission dynamics, showing basic reproduction number (R₀) estimates, confidence intervals, and changes in transmission over time.

A research-oriented digital environment

Through its integrated dashboard structure, users can follow changes in infectious disease activity across different countries and geographical regions while examining epidemiological indicators within a common framework. Combining international surveillance data with mathematical modelling transforms the portal from a simple collection of case numbers into a research-oriented platform for the systematic observation and interpretation of outbreak dynamics.

Global distribution of reported Influenza A cases visualized by country through the portal’s interactive mapping interface.

Built through multidisciplinary collaboration

The project’s development reflects the collective expertise and collaborative efforts of its research team: Prof. Dr. Tamer Sanlidag, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cenk Serhan Ozverel, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nazife Sultanoglu, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cemile Bagkur, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayse Seyer, Dr. Erdal Sanlidag, and Dr. David Amilo. Bringing together expertise from health sciences, infectious diseases, epidemiology, microbiology, and mathematics, this multidisciplinary collaboration demonstrates how different scientific disciplines can converge to support the development of digital tools for outbreak monitoring and epidemiological research.

Ultimately, the World Outbreak Tracking Portal demonstrates how digital technologies, epidemiological surveillance, AI-assisted data integration, and mathematical modelling can be combined within a single innovation ecosystem. Through the simultaneous monitoring of cases, mortality, outbreak alerts, geographical patterns, and key transmission indicators such as R₀ and Rₜ, the platform provides a foundation for evidence-based infectious disease research and contributes to stronger preparedness and surveillance capabilities for emerging and re-emerging infectious disease threats worldwide.