Founded in 2008 to promote the international sharing of data on influenza infections, the GISAID database is now tracking the evolution of the coronavirus.

GISAID, a non-profit which was launched in 2008 with the support the U.S. government and in partnership with the CDC, provides a global database of genomic sequencing of coronavirus samples. Since the first whole-genome sequences were made available through GISAID on Jan. 10, 2020, nearly 6 million genomes of the pandemic coronavirus from 204 countries and territories have been made publicly available through GISAID.

Featured

Julian Conley listens during opening statements in his trial at Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta on Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2025. The 25-year-old is accused of fatally shooting 8-year-old Secoriea Turner in July 2020. (Abbey Cutrer/AJC)

Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com