Timely outbreak response requires effective early warning and surveillance systems. This investigation points out the important role that livestock keepers can play in veterinary surveillance. The investigation revealed that pastoralists had good traditional knowledge concerning livestock diseases in general and anthrax in particular. They provided detailed and accurate clinical descriptions of the disease, had greater appreciation of the risk factors associated with the disease, and showed a stronger recall of the outbreak history.
One Health Surveillance
Large mosquito outbreaks mysteriously began to recur annually in Western Kentucky beginning in 2011. With up to 30 bites/minute in urban areas, these outbreaks warranted Governor-declared public health emergencies requiring expensive ($2 million each) aerial insecticide applications over 300,000 – 700,000 acres of populated area. The economic impact was also significant because the area, with large reservoirs managed by the TVA, is one of Kentucky’s most important tourist destinations.
On 3rd of June, 2010 a sick dog was presented to an Animal Welfare Agency. Biliary treatment unsuccessful and the dog was euthanased and tested positive for Rabies on FAT. In this mixed rural urban area of South Africa Rabies is an occasional disease usually related to a sylvatic/mongoose biotype. Within 2 weeks another 2 cases were confirmed in dogs in a 3 km radius of the index case. A single fatal human case was diagnosed in a young girl in October 2010. Eventually 53 cases were reported in the following domestic dogs (46), Bovine (3), Mongoose (2), genet (1) and domestic cat (1).
In general, data from public health surveillance can be used for short- and long-term planning and response through retrospective data analysis of trends over time or specific events. Combining health outcome data (e.g., hospitalizations or deaths) with environmental and socio-demographic information also provides a more complete picture of most vulnerable populations. Using syndromic surveillance systems for climate and health surveillance offers the unique opportunity to help quantify and track in near-real time the burden of disease from climate and weather impacts.
Description
The One Health approach suggests that humans, animals, and the environment are closely tied together. Human interaction with wildlife and the environment contributes to increased risk for human, plant, and animal infectious disease outbreaks. Since human, animal, and ecosystem health are linked, interdisciplinary and holistic approaches are needed to prevent future infectious disease outbreaks. Despite the movement towards One Health, the software currently available to manage, analyze, and communicate the vast amount of One Health data is grossly inadequate. One Health data are continually growing in size and complexity, and new technologies must be developed to address the magnitude of the problem. Furthermore, the desire of single entities to control and leverage information for greater personal and organizational wealth and power directly opposes the goals of biosurveillance, One Health, and science. Open access and open source software are needed to address these complex One Health problems, and to improve data accessibility, interoperability, and information communication.
Objective
Mantle will be an open-source, cloud-compatible platform for storing, studying, and sharing data on infectious diseases across plants, animals, and humans. It will meet the needs of three groups of users: scientists, policymakers, and the general public. For scientists, Mantle will make datasets portable and connected. Scientists will be able to upload datasets to the Mantle website or collect data from the field using a mobile app. Users in Mantle will be able to easily make datasets entirely private, publicly accessible, or shared with specific users or groups.
Description
Statutory veterinary disease surveillance generally focuses on food animals with only minimal resources committed to companion animals. However, the close contact between owners and pets suggests that disease surveillance in these species could benefit both animal and human health.
Following a successful pilot, SAVSNET Ltd. was set up as a joint venture between the University of Liverpool (UoL) and the British Small Animal Veterinary Association (BSAVA) to deliver companion animal health data for research and surveillance. SAVSNET consists of two projects: the first collates results from commercial diagnostic laboratories whilst the second collects data from enrolled veterinary practices for consultations where owners have provided consent by opt-out. Both projects have been approved by the UoL’s Research Ethics Committee and the aims are supported by the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS), the UK’s regulatory body for the veterinary profession.
Applications to use the data are encouraged and are assessed by a panel consisting of BSAVA, UoL and independent members. Data access attracts a nominal fee that is used for long-term sustainability. Currently, SAVSNET data is being used for a wide range of projects by academic collaborators, PhD researchers, undergraduate students and commercial companies.
Objective
SAVSNET—the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network—collects and collates real-time data from veterinary diagnostic laboratories and veterinary practices across the UK to support research and disease surveillance in companion animals.
Description
Anthrax is a globally distributed zoonotic disease caused by Bacillus anthracis, a soil-borne, Gram-positive, spore forming bacteria. Bacillus anthracis can infect people who slaughter or eat animals that are infected. Recent reports indicate the incidence of human anthrax has increased steadily over the last several years in Georgia (2007-2012). The Georgian National Animal Health Program has implemented an anthrax control program. The Ministry of Agriculture, the National Food Agency (NFA), and the Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture (LMA) are engaged in diagnosis and control of anthrax in animals. Epidemiological investigation and surveillance are used to determine the origin of anthrax affected animals and their route of migration, however, for successful implementation, proper animal traceability is required. Identification of cattle is one of the components of epidemiological investigation and has been ongoing in Georgia since 2012.
Description
Lyme disease is an emerging disease in Michigan and is the most commonly reported vector-borne illness. The bacterium causing Lyme disease, Borrelia burgdorferi, is transmitted to humans or dogs through the bite of an infected tick. In the spring of 2015, a veterinarian from an island on Lake Michigan began to see locally acquired Lyme disease in pets. In previous years the vector of Lyme disease, Ixodes scapularis, had not been found on the island. The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) was invited to the island to conduct an environmental investigation and provide health education to local residents.
Description
In human and animal health, conventional approaches to preventing and controlling GI have not reduced the overall disease burden. In order to understand and mitigate shared GI aetiologies between humans and animals it is necessary to develop One Health Surveillance approaches that integrate data-sources contributed to by human and veterinary healthcare. Such approach is described here.
Objective
To describe how a real-time surveillance system for early detection of gastrointestinal disease (GI) outbreaks in small animal and human health is being developed by collecting electronic health records (EHRs) from veterinary practitioners and a telephone-based 24-hour medical triage service in the UK.
Description
Lumpy skin disease (LSD) is a cutaneous disease of livestock caused by a DNA-containing virus belonging to Poxviridae family called Lumpy Skin Disease Virus (LSDV). Another name of the virus is Neethling. The disease is characterized mainly by fever, and lesions appearing on the skin. The incubation period is 6-9 days. Mortality of the disease is about 10%, however, secondary infection of lesions can increase the mortality rate. LSD was first recorded in Zambia, South Africa, then spread to Sudan, Nigeria and European countries. According to information provided by OIE, LSD outbreaks also have spread in Middle Eastern countries including Turkey, where it has been considered endemic since 2007-2008. An outbreak of LSD was also reported in Iran in 2013-2014.
Signs of LSD in Azerbaijan were recorded for the first time in the Region (rayon) of Bilasuvar in May of 2014 and reported to OIE. LSD was quickly suspected, as Bilasuvar neighbors Iran which had recently reported LSD. The same clinical signs were subsequently recorded in cattle in the regions of Jalilabad, Aghdash and Udjar. Some of the cases resulted in death. A PCR assay was set up in the Republican Veterinary Laboratory in Azerbaijan in order to test livestock samples for the disease while an epizootological study was conducted to determine the extent of disease spread within the three affected rayons.