Pakistan being a subtropical region is highly susceptible to water-borne, air-borne and vector-borne infectious diseases (IDs). Each year, millions of its people are exposed to, and infected with, deadly pathogens including hepatitis, tuberculosis, malaria, and now-a-days dengue fever (DF). Monitoring and response management to natural or man-made IDs is non-existent in the country due to lack of robust infrastructure for health surveillance. DF outbreaks in 2005-2011 alone resulted in more than 50,000 infections and about 1500 people lost their lives.

Cyanobacteria and marine algae are ubiquitous in the earth's freshwaters and oceans. Under the right circumstances, these organisms can proliferate, causing harmful algal blooms (HABs) which may produce toxins that threaten human and animal health as well as local and regional ecology. Animals may play in, swim in, or drink from ponds and lakes that have extensive blooms, even if the water bodies smell or look unpleasant to people; the first warning that a toxin-producing HAB exists may come from the death of a pet dog or livestock.