scholarly journals Effective public health assessment, prevention, response, and training for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, including bioterrorism

2001 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 500-501 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
And Training

Biosecurity and Public Health Ethics Issues Raised by Biological Threats

2019 ◽  
pp. 773-785
Author(s):  
Nicholas Evans ◽  
Thomas Inglesby
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Biological Weapon ◽  
Ethical Values ◽  
Dual Use ◽  
Health Concerns ◽  
Trade Offs

This chapter introduces ethical issues that arise in the context of biosecurity: policies and actions intended to prevent the development or emergence, or mitigate the consequences, of serious biological threats. These threats could include deliberate biological weapon attacks (bioterrorism), pandemics, emerging infectious diseases, or major laboratory accidents. The basic values that underpin these public health concerns are first introduced. Ethical issues that arise before, during, and following a biosecurity crisis are then examined, including issues of resource allocation, dual-use research, and the possibility of quarantine. Their resolution requires trade-offs among different ethical values, including utility, fairness, and liberty.

scholarly journals Ocular manifestations of emerging viral diseases

Eye ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashwin Venkatesh ◽  
Ravi Patel ◽  
Simran Goyal ◽  
Timothy Rajaratnam ◽  
Anant Sharma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Influenza A ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Viral Diseases ◽  
Valley Fever ◽  
Ocular Manifestations ◽  
Influenza A H1n1 ◽  
Emerging Viral Diseases

AbstractEmerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are an increasing threat to public health on a global scale. In recent times, the most prominent outbreaks have constituted RNA viruses, spreading via droplets (COVID-19 and Influenza A H1N1), directly between humans (Ebola and Marburg), via arthropod vectors (Dengue, Zika, West Nile, Chikungunya, Crimean Congo) and zoonotically (Lassa fever, Nipah, Rift Valley fever, Hantaviruses). However, specific approved antiviral therapies and vaccine availability are scarce, and public health measures remain critical. Patients can present with a spectrum of ocular manifestations. Emerging infectious diseases should therefore be considered in the differential diagnosis of ocular inflammatory conditions in patients inhabiting or returning from endemic territories, and more general vigilance is advisable in the context of a global pandemic. Eye specialists are in a position to facilitate swift diagnosis, improve clinical outcomes, and contribute to wider public health efforts during outbreaks. This article reviews those emerging viral diseases associated with reports of ocular manifestations and summarizes details pertinent to practicing eye specialists.

scholarly journals Taiwan’s Successful COVID-19 Mitigation and Containment Strategy: Achieving Quasi Population Immunity

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-Chien Chien ◽  
Christian K. Beÿ ◽  
Kristi L. Koenig
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Health Management ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Population Immunity ◽  
Containment Strategy ◽  
Local Transmission ◽  
Pharmaceutical Interventions

ABSTRACT The authors describe Taiwan’s successful strategy in achieving control of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) without economic shutdown, despite the prediction that millions of infections would be imported from travelers returning from Chinese New Year celebrations in Mainland China in early 2020. As of September 2, 2020, Taiwan reports 489 cases, 7 deaths, and no locally acquired COVID-19 cases for the last 135 days (greater than 4 months) in its population of over 23.8 million people. Taiwan created quasi population immunity through the application of established public health principles. These non-pharmaceutical interventions, including public masking and social distancing, coupled with early and aggressive identification, isolation, and contact tracing to inhibit local transmission, represent a model for optimal public health management of COVID-19 and future emerging infectious diseases.

scholarly journals Emerging Infectious Diseases in Water Buffalo: An Economic and Public Health Concern

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marvin A. Villanueva ◽  
Claro N. Mingala ◽  
Gabriel Alexis S. Tubalinal ◽  
Paula Blanca V. Gaban ◽  
Chie Nakajima ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Water Buffalo ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Health Concern ◽  
Public Health Concern

scholarly journals Re-emerging Infectious Disease (RED) Alert tool

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maneesha Chitanvis ◽  
Ashlynn Daughton ◽  
Forest M Altherr ◽  
Geoffery Fairchild ◽  
William Rosenberger ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Disease Incidence ◽  
Emerging Infectious Disease ◽  
Control Measures ◽  
Public Health Response ◽  
Incidence Trends ◽  
Effective Public Health ◽  
Emergence Event

Objective: Although relying on verbal definitions of "re-emergence", descriptions that classify a “re-emergence” event as any significant recurrence of a disease that had previously been under public health control, and subjective interpretations of these events is currently the conventional practice, this has the potential to hinder effective public health responses. Defining re-emergence in this manner offers limited ability for ad hoc analysis of prevention and control measures and facilitates non-reproducible assessments of public health events of potentially high consequence. Re-emerging infectious disease alert (RED Alert) is a decision-support tool designed to address this issue by enhancing situational awareness by providing spatiotemporal context through disease incidence pattern analysis following an event that may represent a local (country-level) re-emergence. The tool’s analytics also provide users with the associated causes (socioeconomic indicators) related to the event, and guide hypothesis-generation regarding the global scenario.Introduction: Definitions of “re-emerging infectious diseases” typically encompass any disease occurrence that was a historic public health threat, declined dramatically, and has since presented itself again as a significant health problem. Examples include antimicrobial resistance leading to resurgence of tuberculosis, or measles re-appearing in previously protected communities. While the language of this verbal definition of “re-emergence” is sensitive enough to capture most epidemiologically relevant resurgences, its qualitative nature obfuscates the ability to quantitatively classify disease re-emergence events as such.Methods: Our tool automatically computes historic disease incidence and performs trend analyses to help elucidate events which a user may considered a true re-emergence in a subset of pertinent infectious diseases (measles, cholera, yellow fever, and dengue). The tool outputs data visualizations that illustrate incidence trends in diverse and informative ways. Additionally, we categorize location and incidence-specific indicators for re-emergence to provide users with associated indicators as well as justifications and documentation to guide users’ next steps. Additionally, the tool also houses interactive maps to facilitate global hypothesis-generation.Results: These outputs provide historic trend pattern analyses as well as contextualization of the user’s situation with similar locations. The tool also broadens users' understanding of the given situation by providing related indicators of the likely re-emergence, as well as the ability to investigate re-emergence factors of global relevance through spatial analysis and data visualization.Conclusions: The inability to categorically name a re-emergence event as such is due to lack of standardization and/or availability of reproducible, data-based evidence, and hinders timely and effective public health response and planning. While the tool will not explicitly call out a user scenario as categorically re-emergent or not, by providing users with context in both time and space, RED Alert aims to empower users with data and analytics in order to substantially enhance their contextual awareness; thus, better enabling them to formulate plans of action regarding re-emerging infectious disease threats at both the country and global level.

scholarly journals When might Host Heterogeneity Drive the Evolution of Asymptomatic, Pandemic Coronaviruses?

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenichi W. Okamoto ◽  
Virakbott Ong ◽  
Robert G. Wallace ◽  
Rodrick Wallace ◽  
Luis Fernando Chaves
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Disease Control ◽  
Disease Surveillance ◽  
Fitness Landscape ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Disease Suppression ◽  
Contact Tracing ◽  
Pathogen Strains ◽  
Host Heterogeneity

For most emerging infectious diseases, including SARS-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), pharmaceutical intervensions such as drugs and vaccines are not available, and disease surveillance followed by isolating, contact-tracing and quarantining infectious individuals is critical for controlling outbreaks. These interventions often begin by identifying symptomatic individuals. However, by actively removing pathogen strains likely to be symptomatic, such interventions may inadvertently select for strains less likely to result in symptomatic infections. Additionally, the pathogen's fitness landscape is structured around a heterogeneous host pool. In particular, uneven surveillance efforts and distinct transmission risks across host classes can drastically alter selection pressures. Here we explore this interplay between evolution caused by disease control efforts, on the one hand, and host heterogeneity in the efficacy of public health interventions on the other, on the potential for a less symptomatic, but widespread, pathogen to evolve. We use an evolutionary epidemiology model parameterized for SARS-CoV-2, as the widespread potential for silent transmission by asymptomatic hosts has been hypothesized to account, in part, for its rapid global spread. We show that relying on symptoms-driven reporting for disease control ultimately shifts the pathogen's fitness landscape and can cause pandemics. We find such outcomes result when isolation and quarantine efforts are intense, but insufficient for suppression. We further show that when host removal depends on the prevalence of symptomatic infections, intense isolation efforts can select for the emergence and extensive spread of more asymptomatic strains. The severity of selection pressure on pathogens caused by these interventions likely lies somewhere between the extremes of no intervention and thoroughly successful eradication. Identifying the levels of public health responses that facilitate selection for asymptomatic pathogen strains is therefore critical for calibrating disease suppression and surveillance efforts and for sustainably managing emerging infectious diseases.

scholarly journals Emerging viral infectious disease threat: Why Tanzania is not in a safe zone

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chacha D. Mangu ◽  
Christina K. Manyama ◽  
Henry Msila ◽  
Lwitiho Sudi ◽  
Godlove Chaula ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Infectious Diseases ◽  
Emerging Infectious Diseases ◽  
Disease Outbreaks ◽  
Early Response ◽  
Emerging Diseases ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Viral Infectious Disease ◽  
The Government

Emerging diseases are global threat towards human existence. Every country is exposed to potentially emergence of infectious diseases. Several factor such as changes in ecology, climate and human demographics play different roles in a complex mechanism contributing to the occurrence of infectious diseases. Important aspects towards control in case of outbreaks are surveillance, preparedness and early response. Tanzania should therefore take opportunity of the calm situation currently present, to prepare. Except for HIV/AIDS, Tanzania has not experienced a major public health threat. However, the question is, is the country safe from emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases? In this article we try to explore the danger of emerging infectious disease (EID) epidemics in Tanzania and the risks attached if an outbreak is to occur. The aim is to formulate recommendations to the government, responsible authorities and general population of what can be done to improve the level of EID preparedness in the country. In conclusion, it is important to strengthen the capacity of community and healthcare staffs on how to respond to potential infectious disease outbreaks. Community-based surveillance systems should be incorporated into the national systems for early detection of public health events. It is also critical to enhance one health approach to increase cross-sectoral information sharing, surveillance and interventional strategies as regards to preparedness and response to disease outbreaks.

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