Big Data Tamps Down HIV Outbreaks

One of the best ways to prevent the spread of HIV is to treat those at high risk with a daily prophylactic pill. Unfortunately, this week Stanford University health researchers concluded that it’s simply too expensive to pre-treat even a fraction of people at increased risk for HIV.

But what if healthcare providers could track a brewing outbreak in real-time, and quickly help those at highest risk of infection? Thanks to big data and crackerjack new software, Canada’s westernmost province is doing just that.

In June 2014, a monitoring system operated by the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) detected a cluster of 11 new HIV cases in a town just outside Vancouver. The system, designed by bioinformatician Art Poon, analyzes massive amounts of HIV genetic data to detect outbreaks.

Such data is surprisingly easy to come by. In many developed countries, it is now routine for a doctor to sequence viral DNA from the blood of a HIV-positive patient. By doing so, the physician can identify which drugs, if any, the virus is resistant to and prescribe an optimal treatment.

In Canada, that DNA sequence data is regularly uploaded to BC-CfE’s secure Oracle database, home to 30,000+ anonymized HIV genotypes. Every time new sequences are added-which happens almost every day-it triggers the entire database to be downloaded to a secure workstation, where Poon’s software works its magic. During the download, all patient information is de-identified. “The system is designed to maintain patient privacy,” says Poon.

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During the Canada Post strike announced September 25, 2025, the following measures will be undertaken to minimize service disruption to BC-CfE clients and providers.

  • The BC-CfE Laboratory has transitioned to private courier for delivery of outgoing reports and documents. Results required urgently can be faxed upon request. (Lab Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8775; FAX 604-806-9463)
  • The BC-CfE Drug Treatment Program (DTP) will fax outgoing forms and documents to the provider’s office. (DTP Contact Information: Phone 604-806-8515; FAX 604-806-9044)
  • St. Paul’s Hospital Ambulatory Pharmacy has transitioned to private courier for delivery of medications. We recommend requesting medication at least 2 weeks in advance in case of delivery delays, particularly to rural/remote parts of BC. (Contact Information: Phone 1-800-547-3622; FAX 604-806-8675)

During the Canada Post strike, we recommend that documents be faxed or couriered to our sites, versus utilization of regular mail service

The BC-CfE Laboratory is streamlining reporting processes for certain tests in order to simplify distribution and record-keeping, and to ensure completeness of results. Beginning September 2, 2025, results for the ‘Resistance Analysis of HIV-1 Protease and Reverse Transcriptase’ (Protease-RT) and ‘HIV-1 Integrase Resistance Genotype’ tests will be combined into a single ‘HIV-1 Resistance Genotype Report’.
For more details and example reports, please click on the button below