US researchers have developed a new and highly effective generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool to rapidly detect exposure to the H5N1 virus – behind avian influenza or “bird flu”, and bolster national surveillance as the virus continues to spread in other animals.
The study revealed that the AI tool quickly scans notes in electronic medical records and identifies high-risk patients who may have been infected with H5N1 bird flu.
“This study shows how generative AI can fill a critical gap in our public health infrastructure by detecting high-risk patients that would otherwise go unnoticed,” said corresponding author Katherine E. Goodman, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the University of Maryland School of Medicine
“With H5N1 continuing to circulate in animals, our biggest danger nationwide is that we don’t know what we don’t know.
Because we are not tracking how many symptomatic patients have potential bird flu exposures, and how many of those patients are being tested, infections could be going undetected. It’s vital for healthcare systems to monitor for potential human exposure and to act quickly on that information,” Goodman added.
Further, the AI tool requires only 26 minutes and costs just 3 cents per patient, said the team, citing the potential of the method “to create a national network of clinical sentinel sites for emerging infectious disease surveillance” to better monitor emerging epidemics.
Using a generative AI large language model, the research team analysed 13,494 visits in hospital emergency departments from adult patients in urban, suburban, and rural areas in 2024. (IANS)
