New ProMED “One Health” Initiative Launched Targeting Physicians, Veterinarians and other public health workers in Anglophone Africa – June 30, 2009

I am pleased to announce this new enterprise targeting physicians and veterinarians in Anglophone Africa, complementing ProMED-FRA which does the same for francophone Africa.  These are not duplicates from the English ProMED lists, but have a specific regional focus.

ProMED-EAFR is collaboration between ProMED and the East Africa Integrated Disease Surveillance Network (EAIDSNet), which is a joint effort of the Ministries of Health of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda as well as national health research and academic institutions. The objective of this initiative between the International Society for Infectious Disease (ISID) and EAIDSNet is to facilitate access to outbreak information on the part of physicians, veterinarians and other public health workers throughout English-speaking Africa. Subscription to ProMED-EAFR is free of charge.

See http://eafr.promedmail.org

Provided by:

One Health Initiative Website ProMED Contents Manager

John (Jack) Woodall, MA, PhD, Director (retd.)
Nucleus for the Investigation of Emerging Infectious Diseases

Institute of Medical Biochemistry

Center for Health Sciences

Federal University

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

June 17, 2009

Death of Former CDC Employee and noted Rabies Expert - George M. Baer, DVM, MPH

Dr. George Martin Baer, a former CDC employee in the Division of Viral & Rickettsial Diseases, died on June 2, 2009, in Mexico City, Mexico, at the age of 73. He was an eminent virologist, veterinarian, and public health scientist. Dr. Baer was born during 1936 in London, England. He grew up in New Rochelle, New York, where he became an accomplished equestrian, and began a lifelong love of animals. He attended Cornell University, where he obtained an undergraduate degree in agricultural sciences in 1954, and a degree in veterinary medicine in 1959. He earned a Master´s degree in Public Health from the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor during 1961. Thereafter, Dr. Baer started his career in public health with CDC via the EIS, and was assigned to the New York State Health Department in Albany, where he focused upon brucellosis, psittacosis, and rabies. In 1964, he worked at CDC’s Southwest Rabies Investigations Laboratory in Las Cruces New Mexico on bat rabies. During 1966 to 1969, he was a consultant to the Pan American Health Organization in Mexico. Based upon his efforts, he helped to lay the groundwork for Mexico’s public health programs against rabies, an effort he continued throughout the rest of his professional life. In 1969, he returned to Atlanta, and became head of the CDC Rabies Laboratory. With his team of researchers, he developed a method for the immunization of wildlife, for which he was credited as the “Father of Oral Rabies Vaccination”. His considerable expertise made him one of the foremost international experts in this arena. Of his more than 100 publications, his 1991 book, The Natural History of Rabies, remains a definitive reference in the field. After retirement from CDC, he founded a diagnostic laboratory in Mexico City, and was a member of the Mexican International Steering Committee for the Rabies in the Americas Conference. At the time of his death, he was working on a new vaccine for influenza, a timely project given the recent outbreak of the H1N1 virus. Clearly, Dr. Baer acted from a deeply held belief in the power of preventive medicine, within the ‘one health’ concept to combat disease both in humans and other animals. He is survived by his wife, Maria Olga Baer, three daughters, Katherine Baer, of Washington, D.C., Alexandra Baer, of New Paltz, New York, and Isabella Baer, of Mexico City, and four granddaughters. Funeral services were held in Mexico City at the Iglesia de Santa Rosa de Lima on June 4, 2009.

The preceding was provided by Peter Costa, MPH, CHES, Global Communications Coordinator, Global Alliance for Rabies Control http://www.rabiescontrol.net/ :

“We were all deeply saddened to hear of the death of Dr. George Baer on June 2, 2009.  We include the announcement about Dr. Baer’s death that was released from CDC [above].”

Centre for Public Health, Zoonoses Launched at University of Guelph’s Ontario Veterinary College

May 04, 2009 - News Release

http://www.uoguelph.ca/news/2009/05/centre_for_publ.html

As stated in the News Release (please see entire notice in link above) and repeated in full on this One Health Initiative’s website Publication page …A one-of-a-kind centre aimed at preventing and controlling emerging animal-related diseases that threaten public health has officially opened at the University of Guelph.

The Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses brings together scientists in a variety of fields to address new or re-emerging zoonotic diseases (those that can jump between animals and humans) such as the H1N1 flu virus, bird flu, E. coli 0157:H7 and West Nile virus…

Please see Centre For Public Health & Zoonoses  website for further information.

University of Guelph
Guelph, ON N1G 2W1

http://www.ovc.uoguelph.ca/cphaz/

AVIAN Influenza Toolkit  -  May 25, 2009

http://www.aitoolkit.org/Default.aspx

The Australian Government Department of Agriculture Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF) has conducted a project aimed at assisting APEC member economies to enhance their social, political and institutional arrangements to better prepare for and respond to the threat of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and other emerging infectious diseases (EIDs).

The initiative was an outcome of the June 2007 APEC ATCWG workshop, ‘Sharing experiences with the management of the avian influenza H5N1 threat’, held in Bangkok in which participants identified the need for a practical policy implementation toolkit that captured the knowledge and experience of animal health professionals working in the SE Asian region . 

Consequently the Avian Influenza Toolkit was developed as a web-based resource that contains management guidelines, information resources, case studies and examples of practical tools to assist countries to implement strengthened animal disease preparedness and response measures.  The Toolkit will include practical experiences of countries and experts on emergency animal disease prevention, preparedness, response, control, and management, combining their experience, guidance and tools into an accessible resource.  The Toolkit will evolve with international policy developments and technical advances, and will be continuously updated as new ‘best practice’ case studies emerge. 

Toolkit elements

The Toolkit is constructed in modules based upon key elements critical to effective animal (zoonotic) disease prevention, preparedness, control and response.  These elements have been developed from the United Nations System Influenza Coordination (UNSIC) six Success Factors  which summarise effective preparedness and control strategies that determine a country’s success or otherwise in dealing with emergency animal diseases and the New Delhi Roadmap - a 21-point vision and roadmap for dealing with avian and pandemic influenza adopted at the New Delhi Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza in December 2007. 

Examples of Toolkit content include: guidelines on the development of compensation schemes, practical advice and case studies on the implementation of vaccination strategies, biosecurity and operating standards for live bird markets, examples of animal health legislation, examples of effective models for private-public sector partnerships.  

Project activities

A Steering Group comprising representatives from Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and the United Nations System Influenza Coordinator (UNSIC), provides overarching guidance and direction to the Toolkit development and administration. 

An initial workshop was held in June 2008 (attended by APEC member economies, South East Asian countries and international agencies), to consider user requirements, information needs, best-practice implementation strategies and issues for inclusion in Toolkit. 

A second workshop in September 2008 evaluated and reviewed the Toolkit in preparation for the launch at the 6^th International Ministerial Conference on Avian and Pandemic Influenza at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt in October 2008. A focus of the Ministerial conference was the management of zoonotic disease risks at the animal–human interface.

Throughout the Toolkit’s development, a significant body of work emerged as it became apparent that the true value of the Toolkit would be found in the sharing of country experiences.  To date however, very little of this information has been documented and shared.  APEC member economies agreed that ongoing work was necessary and should be commissioned to continue capturing and documenting country experiences and case studies for inclusion in the website.  Australia will continue this work in conjunction with APEC member economies and others who wish to share their experiences with the management of avian influenza.

The website is a global resource that complements existing information sources and technical agency websites and has been compiled with the assistance and cooperation of the APEC economies and international agencies which have provided material for the Elements. We invite you to use the toolkit and to consider the website as a forum for the promotion and dissemination of new material relating to AI and other emerging infectious diseases.

Provided by:

Dr. Rhyll Vallis

Strategic Policy & Projects

Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer

Product Integrity & Animal and Plant Health

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Ph: 6272 3148

M.2.118

The SAPUVETNET III Project Contributing to the Millennium Development Goals through the One Health Concept

 (http://www.sapuvetnet.org/), funded by the European Union (DCI-LA/2008/75), aims to contribute to the discussion of various aspects of Public Health that require a multidisciplinary approach.

Rabies is a serious problem in many African and Latin American countries.

Although it has been successfully controlled in many European countries, there are still cases of rabies registered every year in animals and it is currently classified as a neglected disease by the WHO.

This e-conference (1 to 7 June) aims to stimulate debate and contribute to the development of a frame embracing the socio-economic, ecological and epidemiological factors that determine the disease pattern worldwide, and that could help the development of more effective strategies for disease control in the field. Different questions will be explored:

1. What is the real dimension of rabies in different eco-geographical scenarios?

2. Which human behaviours and beliefs contribute to the failure of vaccination campaigns?

3. How to promote responsible pet ownership? Are there any differences between urban and rural context?

4. What are the economic aspects that challenge the success of the animal vaccination campaigns?

5. What organizational aspects have to be put in place? How to communicate effectively with pet owners?

6. How to adapt the different experiences to different local realities?

If you have constructive ideas on one or more aspect of this important disease and would like to share them with us, please participate in this e-conference http://projectos.moodle.uevora.pt/course/category.php?id=3 .

1 to 7 June

The results will be valuable contributions to the World Rabies Day that will be promoted throughout the world in September.

(http://www.worldrabiesday.org/ ).

Instructions to participate in the e-conference.

1. Enter the website http://projectos.moodle.uevora.pt/ (if your browser inquires you on the safety of the certificates do not worry, it is a safe website).
2. Search "PROJECTS" and enter.
3. Access "Preparing the RABIES WORLD DAY 2009".
4. Choose the language in the upper right corner (ES, EN, PT).
5. On the next page you can choose between the following:

Ø                Access with user name and password for users already registered.

Ø                 Create a new user account: All who are accessing Moodle for the first time should register as new user and START CREATING A NEW ACCOUNT. Complete the register form and select Create My New Account.

FOR NEW USERS:
You should see the following instructions after having submitted your form:
"We have sent an email to XXXXX@XXXX.XXX (your email)
There are simple instructions to complete the process.
If you have any difficulty, contact your system administrator. “
Please follow the instructions sent to your email to activate your new account! 

  NECESSARY FOR ALL USERS (new and already registered):

To sign up for: "Preparing the RABIES WORLD DAY 2009":
Search: Management and select ENROLL ME IN THIS COURSE
Enter a enrollment key for access to the discipline: sapuvetnet3

After accessing the content of "Preparing the RABIES WORLD DAY 2009" you can edit what is in blue. Under each "diagram of subjects" you can see sub themes identified as "Discussion Forum", "Chat Room", etc… Selecting these links you may create a new topic of discussion, comment on a previously created, add a topic to chat ...
Selecting the "links" in blue appear different options to add, for example, file attachments on "Attach file". Explore the different options for more flexibility!

An Important Newsweek Letter-to-the Editor from:

 Laura H. Kahn, MD – May 16, 2009  (Scroll down to third letter)

http://www.newsweek.com/id/197887?tid=relatedcl

In response to the following:

The Path of a Pandemic

How one virus spread from pigs and birds to humans around the globe. And why microbes like the H1N1 flu have become a growing threat.

By Laurie Garrett | NEWSWEEK

Published May 2, 2009

From the magazine issue dated May 18, 2009

http://www.newsweek.com/id/195692

Press Release January, 2009

Book Signing Announced for Jim Steele Biography

American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) Meeting, Seattle, 2009

Dr. Craig N. Carter, author of One Man, One Medicine, One Health—the James H. Steele Story and Dr. Cynthia Hoobler, editorial assistant, hereby announce a book-signing to be hosted by the American College of Veterinary Preventive Medicine (ACVPM) at the AVMA meeting in Seattle this July.  Dr. Steele will meet and greet attendees at the ACVPM booth in the exhibit hall and will personally sign any book that is purchased.   All proceeds of book sales will benefit the Steele Endowed Lecture Series and the James H. Steele Professorship of Epidemiology at the University of Texas, School of Public Health, Houston, Texas.  

Dr. Steele founded the veterinary division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 1947.  He then boldly introduced the principles of veterinary public health to the U.S. and countries all around the globe.  His outstanding achievements have helped the world to realize higher standards of living through a better understanding of the epidemiology of diseases shared by animals and man.   As a U.S. Public Health Service officer, he became the first Assistant Surgeon General for Veterinary Affairs and later was appointed as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health & Human Services at the rank of Admiral (two stars).   He has received numerous awards over his illustrious career to include the Surgeon General’s Medallion in 2006, presented by SG Richard H. Carmona.  He is the only veterinarian to ever receive that prestigious award.

The biography begins with Jim’s birth and scrappy childhood in Chicago and takes the reader through his formal education, early work experiences and on through to his retirement from CDC in 1971.   Family and personal experiences are weaved into the story to include real-life adventure, success, tragedy and humor.  After leaving CDC, Dr. Steele began a prominent second career as a Professor of Environmental Health at the University of Texas, School of Public Health.  There he compiled and edited the world’s first comprehensive series of books on diseases shared by animals and man, the CRC Handbook Series on Zoonoses.  At the ripe young age of 95, he continues to lecture, consult, mentor, advise, write, and inspire.  The story of Jim Steele’s life is stirring to us all, in and outside the allied health professions.  He is a true pioneer in the evolving philosophy of One Medicine, One Health, One World.  He has been called by many of his colleagues The Father of Veterinary Public Health.

For those who cannot attend the AVMA meeting in Seattle, please watch for Dr. Steele’s biography on www.Amazon.com coming soon.

Questions:  Contact Dr. Craig N. Carter, 859-253-0571 (office), 859-433-5472 (cell) or email to craig.carter@uky.edu

ONE HEALTH Project: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Government of the People’s Republic of China

Information is public domain from the website:

www.agriteam.ca/projects/profile/livestock-health-extension-services-project-lhesp

Can be posted and distributed.

Provided May 15, 2009 by:

Jane Pritchard BA, DVM, MVetSc

Site Manager/LTTA Gansu and Chongqing 

Livestock Health Extension Services Project 

Agriteam Canada

Rm 408/413 East Wing Yasheng Building

No.  105 Qin’an Road, Chengguan District 

Lanzhou, Gansu 7300300

Jane.pritchard@ccag.com.cn

China, (Xinjiang, Gansu, Sichuan, Chongqing, Shaanxi, IMAR, Jilin), Livestock Health Extension Services Project (LHESP): November 2005–March 2011

Sector: Agriculture and Agribusiness
Region: North and Central Asia
Funded by:
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and the Government of the People’s Republic of China
Total Value: Canadian contribution: C$20 million; Chinese contribution: C$20 million
Partners and Counterparts:
In China: Ministry of Agriculture, Beijing; Provincial Animal Husbandry Bureaus and Agriculture Bureaus

Purpose

To contribute to a better quality of life—including improved public health, farm productivity and increased incomes—for poor rural women and men in western regions by controlling animal diseases. The new, sustainable approaches to the prevention and control of zoonotic diseases introduced through the project improve individual and public health and contribute to global public health. The long-term impacts include:

§               improved capacity of livestock producers, including smallholders, to prevent and control zoonotic diseases

§               reduced inequality between coastal and western provinces

§               improved systems, policy and institutional capacity for the management of livestock health in an equitable and sustainable manner including improved food safety and compliance with international quality control standards and protocols as established by the OIE (the World Organization for Animal Health) and the World Trade Organization (WTO)

Challenge

China has seen dramatic increases in the local consumption of animal products. This has created the opportunity for value-added livestock production to lift poor, subsistence western farmers out of poverty. However, smallholders remain particularly vulnerable to the continuing threat of animal disease, which could quickly destroy their livelihoods. Unsafe and unhealthy livestock farming practices pose significant animal and human health risks and could undo many benefits that have been achieved to date. An animal health extension system that responds to the needs of smallholders is essential to meet the growing demand for safe and healthy livestock products, fulfill WTO/OIE standards and support sustainable economic and social development of the western regions.

Approach

The LHESP uses an integrated approach that links national livestock health policy reforms with innovative regulatory frameworks for delivery, monitoring and evaluation at the farm level and in the marketplace. Training programs in Canada and China expose senior decision makers to new, OIE-compliant policy and regulatory options and contribute to more effective policy development. The LHESP engages all levels of government as well as the private sector, farmers’ association and the farmers themselves.  Village-based pilot projects ensure that policy links to practice in a way that leads to the development of a sustainable, effective system of livestock health extension.

Project Description

The LHESP promotes public health through the prevention and control of animal diseases by assisting China to meet its OIE compliance requirements. This contributes directly to good governance, transparency and reliable information sharing between international parties. Capacity building is carried out with institutional partners such as the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) Veterinary Bureau, the China Center for Animal Disease Control and the China Animal Health and Epidemiology Center.

Good governance in animal health services also involves establishing partnerships with the private sector, including private veterinary practitioners, agribusinesses and farmers. Each of these stakeholders has an important role to play in the prevention, detection and control of animal diseases. These industry participants are actively involved in the project’s planning, training and pilot activities.

Results

The LHESP is working closely with the Government of China to support the reform of veterinary services and the delivery of new, participatory extension services. Results include:

1.             An enhanced enabling environment for the delivery of OIE-compliant livestock health services to poor women and men in western regions

2.             Increased capacity of government policies and programs to locally meet the needs of China’s growing livestock industry and globally meet international animal health standards by delivering high quality, needs-based livestock health services to small, medium and large-scale livestock producers (women, men and ethnic minorities) in a participatory and sustainable manner

3.             Greater capacity of individual veterinarians and animal health workers (women, men and ethnic minorities) through improved education and skills with an emphasis on needs-based participatory training methodologies and the capacity to deliver OIE-compliant animal health services to prevent and control animal diseases

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to inform you that we recently launched our "One Health Network" website (www.onehealthnet.be). The objective of this website is to stimulate interactions between the medical and the veterinary sectors, particularly in low-resource regions.

Practically, the website suscitates discussions on "One Health" issues through literature reviews. Reactions on the reviews are encouraged and will be posted on the website after evaluation. In addition, Refman lists of references can be downloaded and imported in your own reference databases.

Everybody is welcome to submit a review on a "One Health" subject for open discussion with the scientific community.

We kindly invite you to visit the website. Any comment or suggestion is welcome (onehealthnet@itg.be). You are also welcome to invite other scientists to join the network, visit our website and make contributions (you can possibly send me email addresses to include in our mailing lists).

Tanguy Marcotty, DVM, PhD

Department of Animal Health

Institute of Tropical Medicine

Nationalestraat 155

B 2000 Antwerp

Fax: +32.3.247.62.68

Phone:

  Office:                +32.3.247.62.63

  Teleworking:           +32.86.40.17.03

  Cellular:              +32.472.85.53.96

 The One Health Initiative has been endorsed by the American Physiological Society.

Please see published letter from President Dr. Irving H. Zucker and Executive Director Dr. Martin Frank below and on the Publication page of this website:

 Dear Drs. Kahn, Kaplan, and Monath:

   After reviewing the mission statement of the One Health Initiative, I

 am  pleased to inform you that The American Physiological Society has

 endorsed  the Initiatives strategy of improving the lives of all

 species—human  and animal—through the integration of human medicine

 and veterinary  medicine.  The strategy is consistent with the

 Society’s vision of  the role of physiology in global health as

 detailed by APS Past-President  Hannah V. Carey in an article that

 appeared in the Society’s  newsletter, _The Physiologist_ ([LINK:

 http://www.the-aps.org/publications/tphys/2007html/April/apspresident.

 htm] 

 http://www.the-aps.org/publications/tphys/2007html/April/apspresident.htm).

 Consequently, the Society would be pleased to be listed as a

 supporter of  the One Health Initiative.

    Sincerely yours,

  Irving H. Zucker, Ph.D.

    President

    Cc:       APS Council

    Martin Frank, Ph.D.

    Executive Director, American Physiological Society

    9650 Rockville Pike, Bethesda,  MD 20814-3991  USA

 APS Home Page: www.the-aps.org

  ... Integrating the Life Sciences From Molecule to Organism