Strategies to Improve Detection of Novel Pandemic Pathogens: Cost Versus Detection Performance for Promising Pathogen-Agnostic Detection Workflows

This RAND analysis compares three pathogen‑agnostic biosurveillance strategies—syndromic, wearable, and environmental—using modeling to assess cost versus detection performance. Environmental sampling detected outbreaks fastest, followed by wearable sensors, although both lost advantage with highly transmissible or symptomatic diseases. Limited pilot deployments could refine real-world costs and validate early-warning performance.