Sens. Baldwin, Cassidy push genetic surveillance and genomic sequencing bill as path to viral threat tracking

With the introduction of the Tracking Pathogens Act (S. 3534) this week, U.S. Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) proposed the institution of national genomic sequence-based surveillance as a means of charting circulating pathogens, transmission patterns, and more.

“Unfortunately, it is not ‘if’ but ‘when’ our nation will face another pandemic, and we must be better prepared than we were for COVID-19 to track new threats and mitigate the virus,” Baldwin said. “I am proud to introduce the bipartisan Tracking Pathogens Act to increase the United States’ preparedness for future pandemics by ensuring we can effectively identify new pathogens and act quickly to best respond to them to keep our communities safe.”

The bill proposes genetic surveillance as a means of identifying, surveying, and understanding emerging variants of various pathogens, including the still-circulating SARS-CoV-2 virus. This, its authors claimed, could help provide a whole picture of threats, inform vaccine formulations and allow greater insights into vaccine efficacy.

“Plain and simple, we need to be better prepared for the next pandemic,” Cassidy said. “This bill increases our ability to identify, prevent, and respond to new variants and pathogens.”

Under the Tracking Pathogens Act, guidance would be required to support collaborations for genomic sequencing and other new approaches for detecting, characterizing, and sequencing pathogens on behalf of public health. It would authorize government health agencies to expand and improve genomic sequencing-related activities, partnerships, assistance, and more, as well as award grants to public health agencies and partners to create centers of excellence dedicated to the promotion of innovation in the field.

All in all, the legislation would authorize $175 million in sustained, annual funding from FY2023 through FY 2027 to support genetic surveillance and genomic sequencing.

“Genomic sequencing is a critical component of disease surveillance to detect, track, and contain emerging pathogens,” Dr. Sharon Wright, president of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), said in support of the bill. “The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of having access to real-time data that can signal new threats early before they become serious outbreaks. The Tracking Pathogens Act is an important step in ensuring the nation will have the capacity to confront head on the next novel infectious disease.”

Beyond SHEA, the legislation is supported by more than two dozen medical associations, labs, and academic institutions.