United States-based pharmaceutical company Abbott (NYSE:ABT) announced on Thursday that it is collaborating with the Climate Amplified Disease and Epidemics (CLIMADE) consortium, a group of more than 100 global scientists in public health agencies, academia and industry.

The collaboration is focused on using data science technology and diagnostic testing to assess and potentially mitigate the impact climate change has on disease outbreaks. The CLIMADE consortium will be focused on improving surveillance tools and expanding access to resources to decrease the impact of climate amplified diseases and epidemics.

As part of the consortium, scientists trained in infectious diseases, bioinformatics and data science will develop technologies that can aggregate environmental, weather and viral sequencing data sets to predict if conditions could cause a disease outbreak. If a potential outbreak is identified, resources and rapid surveillance testing can be sent to that location to prevent further spread.

Abbott and its partners in the Abbott Pandemic Defense Coalition will provide viral sequencing and testing data as part of the technology being developed and can provide diagnostic testing for potential outbreaks.

CLIMADE's initial work will commence with disease surveillance in Africa and expand globally to places that are often impacted by infectious disease outbreaks.