ESSAY
Make Data Sharing Routine to Prepare for
Public Health Emergencies
Jean-Paul Chretien1*, Caitlin M. Rivers 2, Michael A. Johansson3
1 Integrated Biosurveillance Section, Armed Forces Health Surveillance Branch, Defense Health Agency,
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States of America,
2 Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance, US Army
Institute of Public Health, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, United States of America,
3 Dengue Branch,
Division of Vector-Borne Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, San Juan, Puerto Rico,
United States of America
*
jpchretien@gmail.com
Summary Points
• The recent outbreaks caused by Ebola and Zika viruses highlighted the importance of
medical and public health research in accelerating outbreak control and prompted
calls for researchers to share data rapidly and widely during public health emergencies.
• Effective preparation for emergencies requires the routine practice of data sharing in
scientific research.
• Key impediments to data sharing, such as long-standing academic norms and human
and technical resource limitations, cannot immediately be surmounted when an emergency
occurs.
• Ongoing research that does not directly relate to an emergency now may be critical for
the next unpredictable outbreak.
• As part of emergency preparedness, the scientific community should support ongoing
initiatives that address major obstacles to data sharing and should embrace open science
practices in both emergency and nonemergency research.
