U. S. One Health Commission Chair, A Notable “One Health” Leader

Joann Lindenmayer, DVM, MPH, a veterinarian and outstanding One Health leader, serves today as Chair of the Board https://www.onehealthcommission.org/en/leadership/ of the One Health Commission (OHC) https://www.onehealthcommission.org/.  In the recent planning stage for establishing a Global “One Health Day”, Dr. Lindenmayer played a key role helping to guide the One Health Commission, One Health Initiative Team and One Health Platform Foundation towards implementation and press release preparations http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/publications/OH%20Day%20Press%20Release-Final%20Approved%203-28-16.pdf.  See Thursday’s March 31, 2016 previously posted One Health Initiative website Press Release NEWS item http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/news.php?query=GLOBAL+%93ONE+HEALTH+DAY%94.  

Dr. Lindenmayer strongly encouraged the “One Health Day” idea, brainchild of One Health Commission’s (OHC) Peter J. Costa, MPH, MCHES, Associate Executive Director Biography and Cheryl M. Stroud, DVM, PhD, Executive Director Biography.  The OHC’s executive leadership, directed by Dr. Stroud, engaged a visionary liaison with Prof. Dr. Ab Osterhaus [DVM, PhD] Biography, Chair of the One Health Platform Foundation Board (OHP).  Dr. Osterhaus is a veterinarian, and a prominent leading Dutch virologist and influenza expert.  In addition, the OHC and OHP concomitantly enlisted inclusion of the One Health Initiative team to help sustain activities and publicity for this international coalition partnering group. Additional information is available online at www.onehealthday.org.

Lindenmayer is presently Senior Manager of Disaster Operations and Director of the Haiti Program for Humane Society International http://www.hsi.org/, a position she has held since July 2014. Formerly the Associate Professor of Public Health in the Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health at Tufts Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, she served as Director of the DVM-MPH Track of the Medical School’s Combined MPH Program. She presently holds adjunct appointments at the Medical School and a faculty affiliation with the Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service.

A former Peace Corps volunteer in Sabah, East Malaysia, Lindenmayer graduated from Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and traveled to Niger where she conducted epidemiological studies of constraints to sheep production among semi-nomadic herders, and ran a small pro bono clinic for expatriate dogs and cats. She earned a Masters of Public Health degree (MPH) at the prestigious Harvard School of Public Health and was awarded a fellowship from the Medical Foundation for her research on dogs as sentinels for geographic spread of Lyme disease. In 1992 she joined the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) and was sent to the Vermont Department of Health, and in 1994 she was chosen as a Fellow in the CDC’s State-based Epidemiology for Public Health Practice (STEPPS) Program and was assigned to the Rhode Island Department of Health. From 1994 to 2005 she held joint appointments in the Department of Community Health at Brown Medical School, where she founded the MPH Program in 1999, and the Rhode Island Department of Health, where she served as a chronic disease epidemiologist specializing in diabetes prevention and control. She joined the faculty at Tufts Cummings School in 2006 where she served on the Global Health Council.

Lindenmayer was the recipient of a One Health grant from the Rockefeller Foundation and she, along with colleagues in Indonesia and Thailand, assessed the application of a One Health approach to disease prevention and control by veterinarians during the avian influenza pandemic in Southeast Asia. She is former Co-Principal Investigator for the Cummings School award from U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID’s) https://www.usaid.gov/ RESPOND component of its Emerging Pandemics Threats Program which, now in its second phase, aims to improve the capacity of health professionals from human, animal and environmental health to collaborate in responding to outbreaks of emergent zoonotic diseases. In 2013 she received the Roy Montgomery Award from the Evidence-Based Veterinary Medical Association for developing a biostatistics course using the flipped classroom model for practicing veterinarians.

She has published widely in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, Journal of Public Health Policy, the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly, Public Health Reports, the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Archives of Internal Medicine, the Journal of African Health Sciences ("Animals as key promoters of human resilience"), Journal of Small Animal Practice, Journal of Veterinary Medical Education, American Journal of Public Health and Tropical Animal Health and Production, and Rhode Island Medicine, and she has co-authored scientific reports for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and USAID.

April 1, 2016   For Immediate Release

Contact(s):    Peter Costa, +1 984 500 8593 (USA), pcosta@onehealthcommission.org

                        Chris Vanlangendonck, +32 475 81 38 59 (Belgium), c.vanlangendonck@onehealthplatform.com

GLOBAL “ONE HEALTH DAY” PLANNED BY THREE INTERNATIONAL ONE HEALTH GROUPS – NOVEMBER 3, 2016

Three leading international One Health groups, the One Health Commission, the One Health Initiative Autonomous pro bono Team, and the One Health Platform Foundation are partnering to create a global “One Health Day”. 

 On November 3, individuals and groups from around the world, from academic to corporate & non-profit, students to established professionals, will have the opportunity to implement One Health projects and special events under the auspices of “One Health Day.” Projects will highlight the benefits of a One Health transdisciplinary approach towards solving today’s critical global-planetary health challenges.  “It is anticipated that emerging projects will focus on many of the arenas under the One Health umbrella including worldwide public health issues such as emerging/reemerging zoonotic infectious diseases, comparative medicine research including cancer, heart disease, orthopedic diseases and the inextricable interactions between animal, environmental and human health”, said Dr. Cheryl Stroud, Executive Director of the One Health Commission, veterinary scientist and One Health leader.

One Health is a movement to forge co-equal, all-inclusive collaborations, in both research and applied sciences, between human and veterinary medical healthcare providers, social scientists, dentists, nurses, agriculturalists and food producers, wildlife and environmental health specialists and many other related disciplines. As early as 2010 the World Bank recognized and published documentary evidence supporting benefits of a One Health approach in disease prevention, public health and global security.

“Many prominent scientists, physicians, veterinarians and other significant health professionals are endorsing the One Health concept”, said Dr. Laura Kahn, Co-Founder of the One Health Initiative Autonomous pro bono Team, physician and internationally published One Health author/leader.  “The One Health approach is being increasingly accepted by numerous major international health oriented organizations such as the World Health Organization, the World Medical Association, the World Veterinary Association, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, the World Organization for Animal Health, and many others.  An outstanding group of One Health textbooks and international professional One Health journals have emerged”, says Kahn.

The One Health concept is a worldwide strategy for planetary health. It will support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the United States led Global Health Security Agenda. Transdisciplinary synergisms achieved will advance health for the 21st century and beyond by accelerating biomedical research on topics that fall at the interface of many disciplines, improving medical education, and clinical care. When properly implemented, One Health will help sustain biodiversity, protect the planet and save untold millions of lives in our present and future generations. 

 “Recent global disease events, like the outbreaks of Ebola, MERS and Zika, have underpinned the increasing impacts of zoonotic diseases on human and animal health. It has also become clear that changes in the environment, like population growth and climate change, are drivers for the emergence of such zoonoses“, said Prof. Dr. Ab Osterhaus, Chair of the One Health Platform Foundation Board, veterinarian, and leading Dutch virologist and influenza expert.

Regional One Health Day Spokespersons from around the world are being engaged to liaise with project teams in their respective locales. Anyone, individuals or groups, from academic to corporate to non-profit, students to established professionals can plan and implement a One Health Day event. Student groups from all disciplines are encouraged to participate and will have the option to compete for cash prizes and global recognition. This global partnership will provide a platform for One Health supporters around the world to help make One Health thinking the ‘default’ way of doing business. Working together across human, animal and environmental health professions, those who believe strongly that One Health is our ‘Ray of Hope’ for the future can accomplish significant change. 

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Additional information is available online at www.onehealthday.org

Click the links below for a non-exhaustive list

- of major international health oriented organizations that support One Health

- of One Health textbooks

- of One Health journals

About the initiators

The One Health Commission is a globally focused 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to promoting improved health of people, domestic animals, wildlife, plants and the environment. Committed to creating unifying interactions and opportunities between animal health, human health and planetary health, it is a gateway for the active exchange of One Health-related knowledge, sharing of resources and collaborative projects that reach beyond disciplinary boundaries. Working to train the next generation of One Health leaders, the Commission seeks to ‘Connect’ One Health Advocates, to ‘Create’ networks and teams that work together across disciplines to ‘Educate’ about One Health and One Health issues. It does this by leading and facilitating active One Health education initiatives around the world. www.onehealthcommission.org

The One Health Initiative Autonomous pro bono Team was originally established 2006-2007.  The One Health Initiative website, originated October 2008, has been called "the international clearing house for significant One Health information" and by some the "New York Times of One Health.” Its world-wide circulation has been strengthened by its up-to-date One Health News, Publications and Upcoming Events postings relative to animal, human and environmental health.  It is currently estimated to be accessed monthly by roughly 20,000 individual visitors from over 150 countries.  The OHI website is known to have had at least 119 reciprocal links worldwide.  Among the leading high profile search engines the One Health Initiative website is listed first or among the first when either “One Health Initiative” or “One Health” are typed in. www.onehealthinitiative.com

The One Health Platform is a strategic forum of stakeholders and a One Health reference network that aims to enhance our understanding of zoonoses, emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance, including the ecological and environmental factors which impact on these diseases. The One Health Platform engages in collaborative partnerships with existing international governmental and non-governmental organizations and institutions to set up a framework for information-sharing, cooperation and awareness raising activities. The One Health Platform organizes the biennial International One Health Conferences. More information is available through the monthly One Health Media Bulletin and at www.onehealthplatform.com.

Achieving the UN [United Nations]-2030 Sustainable

Development Goals through the ‘One World, One Health’ Concept

(Extending ‘Community of Life’ Chances in an Era of Complexity, Uncertainty and Instability)

 http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/publications/Mar_25_2016_-R-_One_Health_Article_US_version.pdf

*George Lueddeke, PhD

Co-Chair, One Health Education Task Force, One Health Commission [USA]

United Kingdom

 Preamble

The recently agreed UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs), present exciting and meaningful  opportunities to explore approaches for implementing these on a global scale. However, while the UN Agenda has been carefully crafted, much work remains in terms of translating broad vision and goals into practice on the ground and in finding ways or systems not only of 'doing things better' -the traditional approach to change - but also -and arguably much  more important - of learning to do 'better things,' engaging in transformative - often 'out of the box’ – holistic thinking and interventions.  This article provides a starting point in this direction as it calls for a better understanding of the many social, economic, ecological and geopolitical hurdles we face, the global goals to which nations are asked to aspire and their relationship to an interdependent and interconnected planet, which must support the health and well-being of all species - humans, animals, plants – ensuring their survival in an increasingly threatened environment. The task is formidable and our success depends on our capacity to effectively address what some have called an historic 'ingenuity gap,' whereby our present-day solutions fall far short of the myriad complex problems we face.  In the long term our best chance for doing so may be by nurturing imaginative or innovative thinking throughout the student learning experience  to raise awareness about the world we inhabit and how we can make it better, thereby fundamentally reflecting the ‘One World, One Health’ mindset in order to safeguard - through collaborative and enabling action - the sustainability of the planet and the future for this and future generations. 

 The UN-2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Please see attached PDF to read complete copy http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/publications/Mar_25_2016_-R-_One_Health_Article_US_version.pdf .

*Dr. Lueddeke is listed among the One Health Initiative Supporters http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/supporters.php.

Fame and Zoonosis

Submitted to One Health Initiative website March 21, 2016 by:

*Steve A. Berger, MD

Director of Geographic Medicine

Tel Aviv Medical Center

Tel-Aviv, Israel

Diseases acquired from animals have repeatedly shaped human history; but the influence of zoonoses on well-known leaders in science, politics, war, religion, art, industry or even crime is not as well known.  The suffering or death of a world leader from plague, anthrax or rabies can serve as an important paradigm in the appreciation of One Health.

In this series I will explore the impact of zoonotic diseases on famous and infamous humans throughout history.  Background data are derived from a "hobby" which I maintain at www.VIPatients.com   The site is interactive.  Users can explore the diseases of over 22,000 "VIP's"; or generate lists based on disease, profession or year of death.  Although specific "diagnoses" are derived primarily from biographies, and are often speculative or biased, entries are regularly updated as additional information becomes available.

 Rabies and Fame:

Although rabies was first described as early as 1930 B.C.E., only five famous persons are known to have died of the disease. 

The first VIP to die of rabies was Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond.  Richmond was appointed Governor General of North America in 1818, but died only one year later after contracting rabies from the bite of a fox in Quebec.

In 1868, Gieseppe Abbati, an Italian painter from the Macchiaoli School, died of rabies after his pet dog bit him.  Ironically, both Abbati and the dog had been memorialized in a portrait painted three years earlier (see https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Boldini_-_Giuseppe_Abbati.jpg).  Six years later, Ada Clare, a little known American actress died of rabies following the bite of a dog.

Hayes St. Leger, 4^th Viscount Doneraile was an Irish peer who sat in the British House of Lords.  In 1887, he developed rabies from the bite of a pet fox, and died as his house-servants smothered him to end his suffering.

Actor, Fernando Poe, Sr. is a household name in the Philippines.  Poe was injured while filming a movie in 1951, and died of rabies after allowing a dog to lick his wound.  Thus, the disease does not require an overt animal bite for transmission.

Ironically, the best-known encounter with rabies did not result in death.  In 1886, a Spanish child prodigy was bitten by a rabid dog.  One year earlier, a Frenchman named Pasteur had developed a vaccine for the disease, and this boy became one of the first humans to be saved through vaccination.  In 1891, young Pablo Casals went on to give his first cello recital, in Barcelona.

 *Dr. Berger, a physician, was trained in Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology, and is currently affiliated with the Tel Aviv Medical Center as Director of Geographic Medicine.  He holds the rank of Associate Professor of Medicine (emeritus) at the University of Tel-Aviv School of Medicine.   Dr. Berger recently published 423 e-books (130,000 pages) which cover the status of Infectious Diseases in every country.  He has also published over 190 professional articles and nine books.

 Save the date

2nd GLOBAL CONFERENCE ON ONE HEALTH

See http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/publications/STD%202%20GCOH.pdf

10th - 11th November 2016

Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan

Moving forward from One Health Concept to One Health Approach

Following the successful Global Conference on One Health (GCOH) that was held in Madrid in May 2015, the World Veterinary Association (WVA) and World Medical Association (WMA) in close collaboration with the Japan Medical Association (JMA) and the Japan Veterinary Medical Association (JVMA) are preparing the 2nd GCOH to be held on 10t-11th November in Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan.

The 2nd GCOH aims to bring together Veterinarians, Physicians, Students, Public Health Officers, Animal Health Officers, NGOs and other interested parties from the different world regions to learn, discuss and to address critical aspects of the 'One Health' Concept.

The main objectives of the conference are to strengthen the links and communications and to achieve closer collaboration between Physicians, Veterinarians and all appropriate stakeholders to improve the different aspects of health and welfare of humans, animals and the environment.

The main conference sessions will focus on the issues of:

• Zoonotic diseases

• Foodborne diseases

• Antimicrobial resistance

• Environmental hazards exposure to humans and animals

More details regarding the conference and registrations will be published soon on WVA www.worldvet.org and WMA www.wma.net websites

Note: The first landmark World Veterinary Association (WVA)/World Medical Association (WMA) Global Conference on One Health which was held in Madrid, Spain on May 21-22, 2015, brought together 330 delegates from 40 countries around the world to discuss the One Health Concept. http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/news.php?query=World+Veterinary+Association%2FWorld+Medical+Association+Global+Conference+on+One+Health+%96+Report+and+Presentations

Sen. Franken Pushes Bill to Establish National Plan for Fighting Diseases Like Zika & Ebola

National One Health Act Will Help Top Agencies Understand, Prevent, and Respond to Animal Disease Outbreaks

See http://www.franken.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=3385

Friday, March 4, 2016

U.S. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) has introduced legislation that would establish a coordinated national plan to fight diseases that come from animal sources, including Zika and Ebola.

The One Health Act of 2016 would charge the nation's agencies—from the Centers for Disease Control And Prevention (CDC) to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)—to work together on identifying specific goals and priorities to help understand, prevent, and respond to animal disease outbreaks.

"Nearly 75 percent of emerging human diseases, including Zika and Ebola, come from animals," said Sen. Franken. "Unfortunately, when those kinds of diseases threaten us, there often hasn't been enough coordination between animal health and human health officials. It's long past time we have plans in place before disease strikes, which is why I'll be pushing hard to pass my bill into law."

Sen. Franken, a member of the Senate Health Committee, has helped lead the charge to prevent the growing threat of diseases like Zika and Ebola. When the Ebola virus threatened the U.S. in 2014, he immediately started working with Minnesota health agencies and national groups to coordinate a statewide response to the disease. And more recently, he introduced bipartisan legislation to help speed up the process for developing safe and effective treatments and vaccines for the Zika virus.

The One Health Act of 2016 would require the Obama Administration and federal agencies to create a comprehensive strategy—the National One Health Framework—that will outline ways they can work together to address infectious diseases in animals and the environment, in order to prevent spread into human populations. It will also create competitive grant programs to carry out the programs outlined in the framework and spur collaboration between health programs at the state and local level. Sen. Franken's legislation will also urge international health organizations, like the World Bank and World Health Organization, to increase investments in One Health approaches to global health security.

###

Also see:

http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/news.php?query=One+Health+Letter+Endorsement+sent+to+U.S.+President+%28The+White+House%29+from+7+United+States+Senators+-+February+12%2C+2015%2C+Washington%2C+DC+%28USA%29

http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/news.php?query=One+Health+approach+implementation+supported...Hudson+Institute+Report%3A+NATIONAL+BLUEPRINT+FOR+BIODEFENSE%2C+Released+October+28%2C+2015+

https://www.onehealthcommission.org/documents/filelibrary/homepage_images/7115_OHC_Letter_to_White_Houseno_em_69EE814936C70.pdf

One Health News Letter released during inauguration of 16th Indian Veterinary Congress February 27-28, 2016

http://www.worldvet.org/events.php?item=130&view=item

INDIAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF VETERINARY RESEARCH (IAAVR)

Please see PDF attachment http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/publications/Newsletter%20%20One%20Health.pdf

Provided by:

*Prof. (Dr.) Rishendra Verma, ARS

B.Sc.,B.V.Sc. & A.H., M.V.Sc., M.Sc. (Immunol,UK),M.V.M. (Biosec, NZ), Ph.D, Dip. Journalism (Mysore), F.I.A.A.V.R.,F.I.A.V.P.H.S.,F. A.P.H.V.,F.I.S.V.I.B., F.N.A.V.Sc.,F.N.N.A.Sc.,F.N.A. Sc, FAO (Fellow)

CHAIRMAN, Expert Group (VET),I.P. Commission

Ex-Member, DBT Task Force on Vaccines and Diagnostics

Ex-President, Agricultural Research Service Scientist Forum, Izatnagar Unit

President, Laboratory Animal Science Association of India

General Secretary, National Academy of Veterinary Science (NAVS)

Founder Secretary, Indian Association for the Advancement of Veterinary Research

Founder Editor,  The Indian Journal of Veterinary Research

Contact#: +91-9359117376(M), +91-581-2586453(R) 

*Dr. Verma is a longstanding One Health supporter/advocate http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/supporters.php.

Outstanding United States One Health leader News...

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’ Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) Director Dunham to Leave Agency for New Opportunity in Academia

February 29, 2016 - http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/NewsEvents/CVMUpdates/ucm488331.htm

*Dr. Bernadette Dunham, DVM, Ph.D., director of the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, announced today that she will leave the agency in April to participate in a One Health collaborative effort between the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University and the FDA.

Dr. Dunham joined the FDA in 2002 and has served as CVM’s center director since 2008. Dr. Dunham earned her degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada, and a Ph.D. in cardiovascular physiology from Boston University in Boston, Massachusetts. After completing her post-doctoral residency program in the Department of Pathology at the New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University, she was the Director of Laboratory Animal Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Pharmacology at the State University of New York Health Science Center in Syracuse, N.Y.

From academia, Dr. Dunham’s career brought her to Washington, D.C., where she was Assistant Director for the American Veterinary Medical Association's (AVMA) Governmental Relations Division in Washington, D.C. In that position, which she held from 1995 to 2002, she participated in the formation and execution of AVMA policies, objectives and programs, with emphasis on Federal legislation and regulatory issues.

The FDA is grateful to Dr. Dunham for her 13 years of service and leadership and wishes her continued success as she returns to her academic roots. Her strong academic career and extensive government service provide an outstanding foundation for her new path, focusing on developing future leaders in animal health and the One Health approach to public health.

Tracey Forfa, J.D., who has served as CVM deputy director since 2008, will fulfill the role of acting center director while the agency conducts a nationwide search for a new leader of CVM. Ms. Forfa began her FDA career in 1993 on the Regulations and Policy Staff at the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. She served as an Associate Ombudsman in the Office of the Chief Mediator and Ombudsman, FDA from 1996 to 2002. Ms. Forfa earned her J.D. at University of Baltimore School of Law and served as an appellate law clerk, working for judges on both the Court of Appeals and Court of Special Appeals in Maryland prior to coming to FDA.

Contact FDA

240-402-7002

240-276-9115 FAX

Issued by: FDA, Center for Veterinary Medicine

7519 Standish Place, HFV-1

Rockville, MD 20855

*Dr. Dunham is a member of the One Health Initiative team’s Advisory Board http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/advBoard.php.