The ethics of tracking infectious disease transmission

What if I could tell you, which of your healthcare-providers infected your child with the bacteria that killed them? Or which of your sexual partners gave you HIV? Would you blame them? Should I have told you? New 'pathogen sequencing' technologies can track and understand the spread of infectious disease more accurately than ever before. This means we can stop the spread of infection more effectively. However, this also raises important ethical questions. I will speak to members of the public and experts to identify what harms they think might arise from the use of this technology, and what ethical policy and practice should look like. I will investigate how people characterise their responsibilities and associate blame with regards to the transmission of infectious disease. I will then develop an account of ethical practice to ensure these technologies are used ethically, and can be effective in combating rising disease threats.