Antibiotics in Animals Need Limits, F.D.A. [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] Says

By GARDINER HARRIS  New York Times

Published: June 28, 2010

 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/health/policy/29fda.html?hp

Also see WebMD:

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20100628/fda-antibiotics-in-livestock-affects-human-health?src=RSS_PUBLIC

One Health Book Reviewed Favorably in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) -USA

*This book review has been reprinted with the permission of the American Veterinary Medical Association.  It originally appeared in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVA), 2010;236:1304-1305 [http://avmajournals.avma.org/loi/javma].  To quote from this review, please Reference the JAVMA citation.  To obtain permission to reproduce this review, please contact dfagen@avma.org.

This landmark One Health book was co-edited/written by a prominent physician and veterinarian, Drs. Peter M. Rabinowitz of Yale Medical School and Lisa A. Conti, DVM, MPH, director of the Florida Department of Health’s environmental health division, respectively.  It was a co-equal, collaborative production.

Rabinowitz and Conti assembled a representative group of outstanding scientific health leaders from the fields of medicine and veterinary medicine in this first of its kind endeavor.  The book demonstrates the critical need for co-equal interdisciplinary collaborative communications and research in the 21^st century considering the exponential emergence of zoonotic disease threats and risks worldwide, not to mention the many mutually concerning clinical health care problems of humans and animals, e.g. cancer, obesity, orthopedics, cardiovascular, metabolic and others.

Note: The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) is one of the leading health organizations supporting the national and international One Health movement in conjunction with the American Medical Association (AMA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS), the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), American Public Health Association (APHA), and many others.

Reviewed by Katie Portacci, DVM, MPH, DACVPM

Oftentimes, the wide breadth of literature available on zoonotic diseases can be difficult to obtain in a clinical setting, yet veterinarians are looked on as a primary source of information for zoonotic diseases. Human-Animal Medicine: Clinical Approaches to Zoonoses, Toxicants and Other Shared Health Risks serves as a consolidated resource for a number of zoonotic and other disease risks that may be shared between humans and other animals. The book highlights the role of veterinarians in the detection of diseases that may have an impact on human, wildlife, or pet health. It also serves as a reminder that veterinarians should be aware of the diseases that are reportable and how to report to local, state, or federal authorities.

Although not a quick reference source for specific disease treatments, this book provides small animal practitioners with key talking points to improve client communication regarding shared disease risks. The legal and ethical obligations veterinarians must consider when communicating with clients or other health professionals are clearly emphasized. Guidance is also provided on standard practices to minimize zoonotic disease risks to animal health workers.

Overall, this book provides an overview on a wide range of clinical topics frequently encountered by veterinary, human, and public health professionals. It is reasonably priced and could be a useful reference for veterinarians in small animal practice to improve communication regarding shared human and animal health risks or for veterinarians and veterinary students actively engaged in public health.—By Peter M. Rabinowitz & Lisa A. Conti. 412 pages; illustrated. Wiley-Blackwell, 2121 State Ave, Ames, IA 50014. ISBN 978-1-4160-6837-2. 2010. Price $99.95.

20^th Century Public Health Leader and unheralded early One Health Practitioner Dies

June 23, 2010

The One Health Initiative website recently became aware of the death of Oscar Sussman, DVM, MPH, JD on March 25, 2010.  He was 92 years old.

In an obituary published online, Dr. Sussman was noted for his “colorful career in public health with the state of New Jersey.  He believed in the public’s right to know and the government’s role to protect the public.  An award for service described him a having “a rare combination of unusual traits.”  He was also described as controversial, forceful, learned, articulate and a champion of the underdog. He was an early advocate of preventive health care. [those of us who knew him recognized and appreciated the validity of these words in a positive sense] In 1962, he went to Egypt on a Fulbright professorship.  In 1966, he was a World Health Organization (WHO) consultant to Brazil.  He retired in 1978, as Director of Consumer Health Services for NJ. …”

Dr. Sussman was a masterful inspiring model in his use of collaborative interdisciplinary “One Health” principles (formerly referred to as “One Medicine”).  He successfully collaborated with numerous outstanding historic public health and research figures including Richard Shope, MD of ‘Shope papilloma virus fame’ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shope_papilloma_virus, James H. Steele, DVM, MPH, the founder of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) veterinary public health division http://www.amazon.com/One-Man-Medicine-Health-Steele/dp/1439240043, and Martin Goldfield, MD, the former director of laboratories for the New Jersey State Department of Health.   Drs. Goldfield and Sussman did landmark research on the epidemiology of arboviruses (e.g., eastern and western encephalitis) in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s).  Dr. Sussman participated in many other public health issues of the era http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=SUSSMAN%20O%5Bau%5D&dispmax=50. 

Notably, Dr. Sussman and his family were close personal friends with Calvin Schwabe, DVM, ScD, the public health expert and parasitologist who championed and coined the term “one medicine” http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/onehealth/about/schwabe.cfm.   Dr. Schwabe was a member of the faculty of the University of California, Davis, Ca School of Veterinary Medicine and also was one of eight founding faculty of the School of Medicine (USA). The Calvin Schwabe One Health Project is a significant part of the UC Davis One Health Institute http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/ohi/.

Important 4^th Edition Book Published with One Health Implications

http://www.amazon.com/Pathogenesis-Bacterial-Infections-Animals-Carlton/dp/0813812372/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277135164&sr=1-2

The Fourth Edition of "Pathogenesis of Bacterial Infections in Animals" captures the rapid developments in understanding the mechanisms of virulence of the major bacterial pathogens affecting animals. Now including a color plate section, the new edition has added emphasis on bacterial evasion of the immune system, overarching themes in pathogenesis, and the contributions of pathogenomics and newer approaches. 

As in the previous editions, the core of the book presents both an overview of pathogenesis of important bacterial infections of animals, including relevant events that occur in the herd or flock and its environment, and in-depth analysis of actions taking place at the cellular and molecular levels. With contributions from 74 experts in the field, this book serves as a remarkable resource for veterinary and medical microbiologists, immunologists, and pathologists, as well as graduate students in veterinary medicine and animal science.

Key Features:

·          Contributions from 74 experts in the field capture the rapid developments in understanding the mechanisms of virulence of the major bacterial pathogens of animals.

·          Includes a color plate section.

·          Presents both the overview of pathogenesis, including relevant events that occur in the herd or flock and its environment, and actions taking place at the cellular and molecular levels.

·          Serves as a valuable reference for veterinary and medical microbiologists, immunologists, and pathologists, as well as graduate students in veterinary medicine and animal science.

The Editors:

Carlton L. Gyles, DVM, MSc, PhD, FCAHS, is Professor of veterinary microbiology at Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

John F. Prescott, MA, Vet MB, PhD, FCAHS, is Professor of veterinary microbiology at Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

J. Glenn Songer, PhD, is Professor of veterinary microbiology, The University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona.

Charles O. Thoen, DVM, PhD, is Professor of veterinary microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

“One Health in ACTION”

New One Health Course Launched – University of California Global Health Institute (USA) – April 2010

The One Health Center of expertise was launched as part of the University of California Global Health Institute in November 2009 (http://www.ucghi.universityofcalifornia.edu/). In April, One Health Center faculty at UC Davis and UC Riverside launched a two-credit course on One Health that was co-taught by Michael S. Wilkes, MD (UCD Medical School) and Co-Directors of the Center Patricia A. Conrad, DVM, PhD and Anil Deolalikar, PhD. Both students and faculty in the course represented the unique transdisciplinary focus of the One Health approach to global health. Teleconferencing technology was utilized in the biweekly two-hour sessions to link the six medical students and residents at the UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento with the nine graduate students at each of the main campuses in Davis and Riverside. 

The graduate students enrolled in the course at UC Davis came from International and Community Nutrition, International Agricultural Development, the Center for Health & the Environment, and the School of Veterinary Medicine. At UC Riverside, the graduate students were drawn from the Departments of Entomology, Environmental Sciences, and Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology, and Sociology. Similarly, the faculty who participated from all three sites came from diverse disciplines, including economics, microbiology, epidemiology, medical ethics, environmental engineering, nutrition, medicine, environmental public health, and parasitology.

The overall goal of the course was to introduce students to the core concepts involved in One Health, particularly the promotion of an integrated transdisciplinary approach to global health problems. Students learned how the health of humans, animals and the ecosystems they share are closely linked. Each session focused on real case problems ranging from water scarcity, waterborne disease and watershed management in Tanzania and Kenya, tsetse fly control in Ethiopia, and zoonotic disease transmission in California. In addition, students were exposed to techniques of cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis of global health interventions.

Students worked in small break-out groups to brain storm about problems and identify solutions to One Health iterative cases.  These were then shared with the entire group of faculty and students via the teleconference systems with audio and video capabilities.

Laurie Harris, DVM, one of the veterinary medical graduate students in the class led a One Health case discussion based on her graduate work on the health of the mountain gorillas and neighboring human communities in Rwanda. Afterwards Laurie commented, "Leading a One Health discussion was a fun way to share ideas and, thanks to the help of my colleagues, to think more deeply about the interdisciplinary nature and effectiveness of my own research."

Provided June 4, 2010 by the author:

Patricia A. Conrad, DVM, PhD

Co-director for the new One Health Center of Expertise

Professor, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology
5311 Vet Med 3A
School of Veterinary Medicine
University of California
Davis, CA 95616

http://faculty.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/faculty/paconrad/

and

Cheryl Scott, RN, DVM, MPVM

Calvin Schwabe One Health Project

Program Director

UCDavis School of Veterinary Medicine

Deans Office Surge IV

RM 119

http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/onehealth/

U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) journal recently published a favorable review of the book:

Who's in Charge? Leadership during Epidemics, Bioterror Attacks, and Other Public Health Crises

By Laura H. Kahn, MD, MPH, MPP
Praeger Security International, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 2009
ISBN 978-0275994853
Pages: 236; Price: US $49.95

It appeared in the June 2010 issue of the journal.

See  http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/16/6/1050b.htm. 

Dr. Kahn is an internationally known One Health expert and advocate.  She also is a member of the One Health Initiative website team: Laura H. Kahn, MD, MPH, MPP, Bruce Kaplan, DVM, Thomas P. Monath, MD and Jack Woodall PhD.

Hendra virus outbreak in Australia Affecting Human Lives: a ‘One Health in Action’ example

In response to several News reports including Australia.To News on May 21, 2010 entitled “New research sheds light on Hendra virus” and a ProMED-mail article posted on the One Health Initiative website’s ProMED page May 24, 2010 entitled “HENDRA VIRUS - AUSTRALIA (04): (QUEENSLAND), HUMAN EXPOSURE” the One Health Initiative website requested from veterinarian Dr. Hume Field an updated News report.  Dr. Field is a prominent and valued One Health supporter/advocate living and working in Australia.

The following was graciously provided on May 30, 2010:

Queensland Government

Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation

May 2010

Hendra virus

Hume Field, BVSc, MSc, PhD, MACVS

Principal Veterinary Epidemiologist (Emerging Diseases), Biosecurity Queensland

Hendra virus was first described in September 1994, in a novel disease outbreak in horses in Australia. Twenty horses and two humans were infected on that occasion, resulting in the death of 13 horses and one human. A further thirteen incidents (some single-horse events, some multiple-horse events) have been identified to date, resulting in more than 40 confirmed equine cases and seven human cases (four of them fatal). Fruit bats of the genus Pteropus (colloquially known as flying foxes) are the natural host of the virus.

The most recent incident was confirmed on 20 May 2010, when Biosecurity Queensland confirmed a positive Hendra virus PCR result for a horse on a property in Tewantin, in south-east Queensland, Australia. The horse was humanely euthanized after a rapid clinical progression. A second (in-contact) horse on the property was clinically well and negative for Hendra virus in the first round of testing. The second horse will remain under quarantine until samples collected a minimum of two incubation periods after the last exposure opportunity are negative to all tests.

Animal health (Biosecurity Queensland) and public health (Queensland Health) agencies are responding jointly to the incident, and will continue to work with the horse owners, the attending veterinarian and local community.

The Biosecurity Queensland Emerging Diseases Research Group, led by veterinary epidemiologist Dr. Hume Field, is using infra-red cameras to record nocturnal interactions and behaviour in horses, bats and other nocturnal wildlife to better understand how Hendra virus is transmitted to horses. The group is also collecting pooled urine samples from fruit bat colonies in the vicinity as part of ongoing investigations into Hendra virus infection dynamics in bats.

There have been calls from individuals and groups in the community for culling of bats. The Biosecurity Queensland perspective is that culling is scientifically flawed and not the answer to the Hendra virus problem. Fruit bats are an important part of the natural system, promoting biodiversity and supporting the timber industry and nature-based recreation and tourism. Beyond this, it’s simply not feasible to cull bats – they are nomadic animals whose movements are driven by food availability – if you cull one location, animals will move in from another location to utilise the food resources. Indeed, culling is likely to be counter-productive and exacerbate virus excretion, firstly by further stressing bat populations, and secondly, the resultant ‘sink’ effect will result in increased population flux. Most importantly, culling is just not necessary; there are effective measures that people can take to mitigate the risks of infection transmission from bats to horses, and from horses to humans.

The website www.biosecurity.qld.gov.au has up to date information on Hendra virus, including the latest version of the Guidelines for veterinarians handling potential Hendra virus infection in horses.

NOTICE (June 7, 2010):

 The One Health Initiative Website Welcomes …

 Worldwide One Health Submissions for Posting on:

· One Health News page

·Publications page

·Upcoming Events page

Comments and suggestions also appreciated...

 Please send to kkm@onehealthinitiative.com c/o Contents Manager

 Cancer Surgeon and One Health Advocate Saves Human Lives in Tampa, Florida (USA)

Prominent oncology surgeon and One Health supporter, Mokenge P. Malafa, MD has been saving lives at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, Florida (USA) for years. Dr. Malafa is chair, department of gastrointestinal oncology, section head, pancreatic oncology and program leader, gastrointestinal tumor program at Moffitt.

On May 20, 2010, Bruce Kaplan, DVM, a successful high risk hepatocellular carcinoma surgical patient after five years presented his surgeon, Dr. Malafa with a copy of the landmark One Health book, Human-Animal Medicine – Clinical Approaches to Zoonoses, Toxicants and other Shared Health Risks by Yale Medical School’s  Peter M. Rabinowitz, MD, MPH and Florida State Department of Health’s Lisa A. Conti, DVM, MPH sevierhealth.com/product.jsp?isbn=9781416068372">http://www.us.elsevierhealth.com/product.jsp?isbn=9781416068372.

ProMED-mail: A Valuable One Health Asset Worldwide

“The costs of doing a poor job tracking infectious diseases as they move between animals and humans have been staggering over the last 60 years.  ProMED-mail (please see our ProMED page on this website) makes a valiant and remarkable effort to overcome this deficit.  A cadre of physicians, veterinarians and other health scientists participate.

Species-jumping pathogens have caused more than 65 percent of infectious disease outbreaks in the past six decades, and have racked up more than $200 billion in economic losses worldwide over the past 10 years, according to a report issued last year September by the U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the National Research Council. 

Lack of communication between those tracking human and animal health has led to missed opportunities to detect and quickly contain species-crossing pathogens, the report notes.

To improve coordination and communication between groups, ProMED’s current staff of nearly 40 experts in 16 countries includes 8 veterinarians and veterinary medical health specialists -- one in Thailand, one in Cameroon, one in Israel, one in Tanzania, and four in the U.S.  The ProMED staff recently reviewed ProMED postings from 1996 to 2004 and found that more than 10,000 reports on animal disease were posted during that interval. Approximately 30 percent covered diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans.  The remaining were related to animal diseases in both domestic animals and wildlife.”

Information provided by:

Larry Madoff, MD, Editor – ProMED-mail  [Edited for One Health Initiative website by Jack Woodall, PhD, ProMED associate editor]