Sens. Warren, King inquire as to why infectious disease program was closed

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, and Angus King (I-ME) recently requested information on why the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) PREDICT program was ended.

The USAID PREDICT program was founded in 2009 to identify and combat emerging pandemic threats. It has nearly 1,000 new viruses, improved or developed 60 research laboratories, and trained approximately 5,000 people worldwide.

Last year, USAID announced that it would cease funding the program, and that PREDICT will close in March. In November, USAID said it would initiate a successor project, but no details regarding this replacement have been released.

“Addressing and preventing the spread of coronavirus and potential pandemic disease outbreaks is a serious matter that requires adequate resources for and cooperation between experts throughout the federal government,” the letter said. “That is why we write today to request information about the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) recent decision to shutter PREDICT, a program established to identify and combat viruses with the capacity to generate global pandemics.”

The senators expressed concern over the coronavirus and its threat to public health and requested response no later than Feb. 13.