scholarly journals COVID-19 and Emerging Zoonosis - The Clock is Counting Down: Time for Closer Collaboration between Veterinary and Human Medicine

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Ana Cláudia Coelho

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) quickly spread from China and crossed international borders. For the first time in this century, the world is facing a nightmare of 2 million deaths due to the respiratory pandemic by January 2021. Most of the emerging or re-emerging pathogens are likely to be zoonotic, and SARS-CoV-2 potentially has an animal origin, a circumstance that is a public health concern and a burden on any country’s economy. Greater awareness and understanding of potential disease promoters and effective disease surveillance systems are crucial for detecting outbreaks of emerging zoonotic diseases as quickly as possible. In order to achieve this goal, there is an urgent need for a One Health approach between human and veterinary medicine. Indeed, the One Health approach, along with all the lessons learned from previous coronavirus threats (SARS- and MERS-CoVs), as well as the advance of science is essential for dealing with emerging zoonosis, including COVID-19. It is urgent to create task forces, networks and all types of collaborations between human and veterinary medicine to prevent future pandemic events.

2020 ◽  
Vol 75 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii52-ii66
Author(s):  
Monica Compri ◽  
Rodolphe Mader ◽  
Elena Mazzolini ◽  
Giulia de Angelis ◽  
Nico T Mutters ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The JPIAMR ARCH and COMBACTE-MAGNET EPI-Net networks have joined efforts to formulate a set of target actions to link the surveillance of antimicrobial usage (AMU) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) with antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) activities in four different settings. This White Paper focuses on the veterinary setting and embraces the One Health approach. Methods A review of the literature was carried out addressing research questions in three areas: AMS leadership and accountability; AMU surveillance and AMS; and AMR surveillance and AMS. Consensus on target actions was reached through a RAND-modified Delphi process involving over 40 experts in infectious diseases, clinical microbiology, AMS, veterinary medicine and public health, from 18 countries. Results/discussion Forty-six target actions were developed and qualified as essential or desirable. Essential actions included the setup of AMS teams in all veterinary settings, building government-supported AMS programmes and following specific requirements on the production, collection and communication of AMU and AMR data. Activities of AMS teams should be tailored to the local situation and capacities, and be linked to local or national surveillance systems and infection control programmes. Several research priorities were also identified, such as the need to develop more clinical breakpoints in veterinary medicine. Conclusions This White Paper offers a practical tool to veterinary practitioners and policy makers to improve AMS in the One Health approach, thanks to surveillance data generated in the veterinary setting. This work may also be useful to medical doctors wishing to better understand the specificities of the veterinary setting and facilitate cross-sectoral collaborations.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaëlle Gruel ◽  
Mame Boucar Diouf ◽  
Catherine Abadie ◽  
Yolande Chilin-Charles ◽  
Eric Marcel Charles Etter ◽  
...  

In Guadeloupe, a French overseas territory located in the Eastern Caribbean, infectious and non-infectious diseases, loss of biodiversity, natural disasters and global change threaten the health and well-being of animals, plants, and people. Implementing the “One Health” (OH) approach is crucial to reduce the archipelago's vulnerability to these health threats. However, OH remains underdeveloped in Guadeloupe, hampering efficient and effective intersectoral and transdisciplinary collaborations for disease surveillance and control. A multidisciplinary research group of volunteer researchers working in Guadeloupe, with collective expertise in infectious diseases, undertook a study to identify key attributes for OH operationalization by reviewing past and current local collaborative health initiatives and analyzing how much they mobilized the OH framework. The research group developed and applied an operational OH framework to assess critically collaborative initiatives addressing local health issues. Based on a literature review, a set of 13 opinion-based key criteria was defined. The criteria and associated scoring were measured through semi-directed interviews guided by a questionnaire to critically evaluate four initiatives in animal, human, plant, and environmental health research and epidemiological surveillance. Gaps, levers, and prospects were identified that will help health communities in Guadeloupe envision how to implement the OH approach to better address local health challenges. The methodology is simple, generic, and pragmatic and relies on existing resources. It can be transposed and adapted to other contexts to improve effectiveness and efficiency of OH initiatives, based on lessons-learned of local past or current multi-interdisciplinary and intersectoral initiatives.


Author(s):  
Andrea Springer ◽  
Antje Glass ◽  
Julia Probst ◽  
Christina Strube

AbstractAround the world, human health and animal health are closely linked in terms of the One Health concept by ticks acting as vectors for zoonotic pathogens. Animals do not only maintain tick cycles but can either be clinically affected by the same tick-borne pathogens as humans and/or play a role as reservoirs or sentinel pathogen hosts. However, the relevance of different tick-borne diseases (TBDs) may vary in human vs. veterinary medicine, which is consequently reflected by the availability of human vs. veterinary diagnostic tests. Yet, as TBDs gain importance in both fields and rare zoonotic pathogens, such as Babesia spp., are increasingly identified as causes of human disease, a One Health approach regarding development of new diagnostic tools may lead to synergistic benefits. This review gives an overview on zoonotic protozoan, bacterial and viral tick-borne pathogens worldwide, discusses commonly used diagnostic techniques for TBDs, and compares commercial availability of diagnostic tests for humans vs. domestic animals, using Germany as an example, with the aim of highlighting existing gaps and opportunities for collaboration in a One Health framework.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-120
Author(s):  
Andrea Győrffy ◽  
Ákos Jozwiak

Public health belongs to the “One Health” umbrella. As military veterinary medicine evolved, it became embedded in national security. Many armed forces still have active veterinary services, both regular and reserve components. The military veterinarian can serve as an interface between civilians and civil organizations, can handle complex and interdisciplinary cases. Introducing the “One Health” concept both in practice and education has encountered many difficulties. Over time, “One Health” has been judged to be a “buzz word” in civilian areas; however, it is a weighty concept. Its importance is pronounced in military areas where practicing along One Health principles were present before the appearance of the term itself. Nevertheless, military “One Health” has not penetrated into the overwhelming “One Health” literature. Emphasizing the military aspects of One Health not only reveals an obscure corner but might help to regain the proper importance of the “One Health” concept.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 420-431
Author(s):  
Katie Cueva ◽  
Andrea Fenaughty ◽  
Jessica Aulasa Liendo ◽  
Samantha Hyde-Rolland

Chronic diseases with behavioral risk factors are now the leading causes of death in the United States. A national Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) monitors those risk factors; however, there is a need for national and state evaluations of chronic disease surveillance systems. The Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has developed a framework on evaluating noncommunicable disease–related surveillance systems; however, no implementation of this framework has yet been published. This article describes the process of, and offers lessons learned from, implementing the evaluation framework to assess the Alaska BRFSS. This implementation evaluation may inform assessments of other state and regional chronic disease surveillance systems and offers insight on the positive potential to consult key stakeholders to guide evaluation priorities.


2020 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudipa Maity ◽  
Kiran Ambatipudi

ABSTRACT Bovine mastitis is a prototypic emerging and reemerging bacterial disease that results in cut-by-cut torture to animals, public health and the global economy. Pathogenic microbes causing mastitis have overcome a series of hierarchical barriers resulting in the zoonotic transmission from bovines to humans either by proximity or remotely through milk and meat. The disease control is challenging and has been attributed to faulty surveillance systems to monitor their emergence at the human–animal interface. The complex interaction between the pathogens, the hidden pathobionts and commensals of the bovine mammary gland that create a menace during mastitis remains unexplored. Here, we review the zoonotic potential of these pathogens with a primary focus on understanding the interplay between the host immunity, mammary ecology and the shift from symbiosis to dysbiosis. We also address the pros and cons of the current management strategies and the extent of the success in implementing the One-Health approach to keep these pathogens at bay.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
dalal Ali youssef

Abstract Introduction:The Ministry of Public Health in Lebanon is in the process of converting the surveillance reporting from a cumbersome paper-based system to a web-based electronic platform (DHIS-2) to have real-time information for early detection of alerts and outbreaks and for initiating a prompt response.Objectives:This paper aimed to document the Lebanese experience in implementing DHIS-2 for the disease surveillance system. It also targets to assess the improvement of reporting rates and timeliness of the reported data and to disclose the encountered challenges and opportunities. MethodologyThis is a retrospective description of processes involved in the implementation of the DHIS-2 tool in Lebanon. Initially, it was piloted for the school-based surveillance in 2014; then its use was extended in May 2017 to cover other specific surveillance systems. This included all surveillance programs collecting aggregate data from hospitals, medical centers, dispensaries, or laboratories at the first stage. As part of the national roll-out process, the online application was developed. The customized aggregated-based datasets, organization units, user accounts, specific and generic dashboards were generated. More than 80 training sessions were conducted throughout the country targeting 1290 end-users including health officers at the national and provincial levels, focal persons working in all public and private hospitals, laboratories, and medical centers as well. Completeness and timeliness of reported data were compared before and after the implementation of DHIS-2. Challenges and lessons learned during the roll-out process are listed.ResultsFor laboratory-based surveillance, completeness of reporting increased from 70.8% in May to 89.6% in October. Timeliness has improved from 25% to 74%. For medical centers, an improvement of 8.1% for completeness and 9.4% in timeliness was recorded before and after training sessions. For zero reporting, completeness remains the same (88%) and timeliness has improved from 74% to 87%. The main challenges faced during the implementation of DHIS-2 were mainly infrastructural and system-related in addition to poor internet connectivity and limited workforce and frequent changes to DHIS-2 versions.ConclusionImplementation of DHIS-2 improved timeliness and completeness for aggregated data reporting. Continued on-site support, monitoring, and system enhancement are needed to improve the performance of DHIS-2.


F1000Research ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 918 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Pérez ◽  
John Pierce Wise Sr.

The One Environmental Health research approach, a subspecialty of the One Health initiative, focuses on toxic chemicals. Distinct disciplines work together to give a holistic perspective of a health concern through discrete disciplines, including, but not limited to, public health and the medical and veterinary sciences. In this article, we illustrate the concept of One Environmental Health with two case studies. One case study focuses on alligators and contributions to the field of endocrine disruption. The other case study focuses on whales and contributions to understanding carcinogenic metals. Both studies illustrate how the health of sentinel organisms has the potential to inform about the health of humans and the ecosystem.


2019 ◽  
Vol 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Gómez ◽  
P. Wetzler Malbrán ◽  
G. Vidal ◽  
M. Seoane ◽  
N. D. Giglio

Abstract Among the different existing types of bacterial meningitis, the one caused by Neisseria meningitidis is the main presentation of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). IMD is a significant public health concern and has a reported incidence rate in Argentina of 0.44 cases per 100 000 inhabitants in 2015. However, the actual incidence is thought to be higher as passive surveillance systems neither report nor identify 100% of all cases. The aim of this study is to develop an estimation of the burden of IMD in Argentina closer to reality by adjusting/correcting several limitations observed in the surveillance data available. A retrospective observational study has been performed using four Argentinean national databases recording the number of IMD cases and deaths, serogroups of N. meningitidis and ages, between 2007 to 2016. The reported data were adjusted to account for underreporting and to also integrate the cases missed due to well-known limitations associated with the diagnosis of N. meningitidis detection methods. Data were further analysed by serogroups of N. meningitidis and by age groups. After these adjustments, the potential numbers of IMD cases and IMD-related deaths are estimated to be 3.1 and 1.9 higher than reported, respectively. The study corrects the previous underestimation of the disease burden and provides expectedly more robust estimates aligned with international evidence and highlights the importance of active surveillance, with high-quality methods, for a better definition of preventive strategies against IMD in Argentina.


2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S102-S110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan E Carey ◽  
William R MacWright ◽  
Justin Im ◽  
James E Meiring ◽  
Malick M Gibani ◽  
...  

Abstract Building on previous multicountry surveillance studies of typhoid and others salmonelloses such as the Diseases of the Most Impoverished program and the Typhoid Surveillance in Africa Project, several ongoing blood culture surveillance studies are generating important data about incidence, severity, transmission, and clinical features of invasive Salmonella infections in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. These studies are also characterizing drug resistance patterns in their respective study sites. Each study answers a different set of research questions and employs slightly different methodologies, and the geographies under surveillance differ in size, population density, physician practices, access to healthcare facilities, and access to microbiologically safe water and improved sanitation. These differences in part reflect the heterogeneity of the epidemiology of invasive salmonellosis globally, and thus enable generation of data that are useful to policymakers in decision-making for the introduction of typhoid conjugate vaccines (TCVs). Moreover, each study is evaluating the large-scale deployment of TCVs, and may ultimately be used to assess post-introduction vaccine impact. The data generated by these studies will also be used to refine global disease burden estimates. It is important to ensure that lessons learned from these studies not only inform vaccination policy, but also are incorporated into sustainable, low-cost, integrated vaccine-preventable disease surveillance systems.


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