human pathogens are classified as zoonotic. Thus, the identification of the natural reservoirs of pathogens prior to zoonosis would be incredibly useful from a public health standpoint. Preventive measures can be taken to lessen the frequency of outbreaks, such as vaccinating the animal sources of disease or preventing contact with reservoir host animals. In an effort to predict and prevent future outbreaks of zoonotic diseases, the U.S. Agency for International Development started the Emerging Pandemic Threats initiative in 2009. In alliance with University of California-Davis, EcoHealth Alliance, Metabiota Inc., Smithsonian Institution, and Wildlife Conservation Society with support from Columbia and Harvard universities, the members of the PREDICT project are focusing on the "detection and discovery of zoonotic diseases at the wildlife-human interface." There are numerous other organizations around the world experimenting with different methods to predict and identify reservoir hosts. Researchers at the University of Glasgow created a machine learning algorithm that is designed to use "viral genome sequences to predict the likely natural host for a broad spectrum of RNA viruses, the viral group that most often jumps from animals to humans." See also Fomite Host (biology) Refuge (ecology) Vector (epidemiology) Zoonosis References Disease ecology Epidemiology