One Health Surveillance

Current veterinary surveillance systems may be ineffective for timely detection of outbreaks involving non-targeted disease. Earlier detection could enable quicker intervention that might prevent the spread of disease and limit lost revenue. Data sources, similar to those used for early outbreak surveillance in humans, may provide for earlier outbreak detection in animals. Veterinary diagnostic laboratories are a source of data that might be valuable to such efforts.

Objective

To study the value of data from veterinary diagnostic laboratories as an initial step in developing an early outbreak surveillance system for animals.

To determine if ticks on dogs can provide early warning for tick-borne diseases in people.

Livestock sector contributes more than 58% to agriculture-based economy of Pakistan. Diseases of socio-economic importance are posing an enormous pressure to the growth of this sector. Zoonotic diseases are generally neglected in wake of epizootics having epidemic potential. One Health is a multi-sectoral approach to control zoonotic diseases at animal level to mitigate risk of transfer to the humans and environment. Despite various control programs, zoonosis is known to cause public health emergencies at various regional and national levels. OIE declared brucellosis as a model bacterial disease to control zoonosis in developing countries. Genus Brucella is expanding with its discovery in various amphibian species and marine mammals and demands control efforts at various levels. Reporting of zoonosis is less than actual prevalence in third world countries like Pakistan where disease is considered endemic but no official data is available. In this study, brucellosis was used as a model disease to emphasize the significance of One Health.

Objective:

To detect the presence of brucella in serum samples of occupationally exposed human and animals by conventional screening methods. To perform epidemiosurvelliance of brucella molecular based tests including genus and species specific PCR. To check the brucella prevalence in occupationally exposed human.

Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) virus is a tick-borne pathogen that causes severe disease in people, with a distribution that extends from central Asia to southern Africa. In addition to tick bites, contact with bodily fluids from viremic livestock or from symptomatic humans are risk factors for infection. From 2000 to 2013, 73 cases of CCHF were reported in Zhambyl Region, Kazakhstan. CCHF virus is categorized as an “especially dangerous pathogen” in Kazakhstan and CCHF is prioritized for surveillance and treatment. Little is known about the seroprevalence of infection by CCHF virus in Zhambyl in ticks or people, and knowledge of risk factors for transmission of CCHF virus among at-risk populations is believed to be low.

Objective:

As part of CDC’s Global Disease Detection work, in conjunction with Zhambyl Region Department of Health, we conducted a tick survey and human seroprevalence Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) survey of livestock-owning households in Zhambyl to assess CCHF seroprevalence and risk factors.

There have been a number of non-infectious intoxication outbreaks reported in North American companion animal populations over the last decade. The most devastating outbreak to date was the 2007 melamine pet food contamination incident which affected thousands of pet dogs and cats across North America. Despite these events, there have been limited efforts to conduct real-time surveillance of toxicological exposures in companion animals nationally, and there is no central registry for the reporting of toxicological events in companion animals in the United States. However, there are a number of poison control centers in the US that collect extensive data on toxicological exposures in companion animals, one of which is the Animal Poison Control Center (APCC) operated by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). Each year the APCC receives thousands of reports of suspected animal poisonings and collects extensive information from each case, including location of caller, exposure history, diagnostic findings, and outcome. The records from each case are subsequently entered and stored in the AnTox database, an electronic medical record database maintained by the APCC. Therefore, the AnTox database represents a novel source of data for real-time surveillance of toxicological events in companion animals, and may be used for surveillance of pet food and environmental contamination events that may negatively impact both veterinary and human health.

Objective:

Our objective was to assess the suitability of the data collected by the Animal Poison Control Center, run by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, for the surveillance of toxicological exposures in companion animals in the United States.

Smart governance refers to the emergence of joint action by the health and non-health sectors, public and private actors and citizens. Although, there are growing literature on governance and its potential impact on health, major challenges on collective action across sectors have been witnessed in developing countries like India. In the same line, the current forms of Global Health Governance façades operational issues and does not sufficiently meet the needs at local levels. In light of these perceived shortcomings, the local governance becomes subject of interest and should be debated especially with reference to global urbanization. Rapid and unplanned urbanization followed by the combination of high population density, poverty and lack of infrastructure have more side effects and fostering conditions for communicable diseases to flourish. Evidence suggests that new megacities could be incubators for new epidemic and zoonotic diseases, which can spread more rapidly and become worldwide threats. In India, Ministry of Urban Development initiated the concept of converting few major cities into “Smart City” in 2015-16. However, one of the major critiques of available smart city guideline is that it has no such focus on prevention of emerging and/or re-emerging zoonotic diseases. The emergence and/or re-emergence of zoonotic diseases should be considered as potential threats for these upcoming Smart Cities and hence, should be addressed by one health approach (health and non-health sectors, public and private actors) through an appropriate local governance strategy. With rapid urbanization and healthcare transformation in India, the operationalization of one health approach might become a major challenge, because of, the absence of the systematic effect at the national level and urban cities are riven between central, state and municipal authorities in terms of health policy, planning, health needs etc. There is also lack of information sharing or collaborations between the health and non-health sectors, public and private actors at the city level. Understanding these challenges can offer important lessons for strengthening both local urban governance and One Health.

Objective:

The present study aims to operationalize one health approach through local urban governance system in a rapidly urbanized Indian city, Ahmedabad, India. In Ahmedabad (proposed Smart city), Gujarat, India: 1. To understand the pattern of zoonotic diseases in reference to urban governance system 2. To develop a conceptual One Health Governance framework with reference to zoonotic diseases 3. To assess the key indicators for convergence for inter-sectorial professional collaborations in One Health