U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Washington, DC) Responds Favorably to One Health Initiative per se via Letter From Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Please see attached favorable June 7, 2011 letter expressing One Health support from Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the CDC (USA) sent separately (same contents) to Drs. Ralph Richardson Dean Kansas State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Manhattan, KS (USA) and Thomas P. Monath, eminent medical virologist .  This was in response to an April 23, 2011 letter sent by Drs. Richardson, and Monath, on behalf of the One Health Initiative Autonomous pro bono team.  See original letter sent by clicking on link http://alturl.com/kv7y8. 

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Washington, DC) Responds Favorably to One Health Initiative per se in Letter

Please see attached favorable May 23, 2011 letter expressing One Health support from Alexander G. Garza, MD, MPH, Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs and Chief Medical Officer at the department of Homeland Security (USA).   This was in response to an April 23, 2011 letter sent by Drs. Ralph Richardson, Dean Kansas State University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Manhattan, KS (USA) and Tom Monath, eminent medical virologist on behalf of the One Health Initiative Autonomous pro bono team.  See original letter sent by clicking on link http://alturl.com/kv7y8.

Prominent Swedish Physician Advocates One Health Principles to Fight Global Infectious Disease

“With humans seemingly fighting a losing battle against the invasion of an ever-changing army of infectious diseases, how do we predict and prepare for the next epidemic?  Björn Olsen, MD, PhD, Professor and Senior Physician of Infectious Diseases at Uppsala University, argues that only a continual collaborative effort between medical and ecological disciplines, to understand the relationship between infectious disease and biodiversity, can hope to stem the tide.  ... “

Please read more: See PDF attachment or link http://alturl.com/wtpnj.                                                          

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

Article produced by Projects Magazine - www.projectsmagazine.eu.com

General Invitation to "One Health" open forum discussion – RE: International Society of One Health Proposal

During the first International Congress on One Health held in Melbourne in February 2011, it was agreed to hold a one day meeting to discuss the best way forward for the One Health initiative. The possibility was discussed of the formation of an International Society of One Health as one way forward but it was recognized that other options might be preferable. There was strong support for a second International One Health Congress.

We would like to extend an open invitation to any interested person or party to attend a meeting in London, U.K. in late June.  The agenda for is meeting is given below:

Agenda

1. Introduction and background to meeting

2. Do we need a new international "body" to further progress "One Health" such as an International Society for One Health.

         - why is something needed?

         - what would be its functions?

         - given the above how should it be structured, managed and be located?

3. Do we need a One Health dedicated journal? If yes

           - how should it be produced (hard copy, e journal, web-based)

           - how should be organized and financed

4. Do we want a second International One Health Congress. If yes

           - who will organize this,

           - where and when

           - what format and areas should be covered

5. Summary and next steps

If you are interested please contact Anne Partridge at Anne.Partridge@CSIRO.AU as an expression of interest. Based on the response we will get back to you with further details,

The Organizing Committee,

Professor Martyn Jeggo

Professor John Mackenzie

Dr. David Heymann

Dr. Jimmy Smith 

Professor Martyn Jeggo
Director
Australian Animal Health Laboratory
CSIRO Livestock Industries
PMB 24
Geelong   Vic   3220
Tel:  03 5227 5511
Fax: 03 5227 5250
Mobile:  0409 166 752

Posted by One Health Initiative website team upon request May 27, 2011

 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – Atlanta, Georgia (USA)

One Health Related Meetings

The One Health Office sponsors, attends, and participates in national and international meetings promoting One Health. To date, a series of meetings have been organized by a number of diverse global institutions from the academic, government, non-government, and private sectors which provide an important forum for bringing together national and international specialists to focus on policies and implementation of a One Health approach. These meetings have built a strong case for One Health by striving to identify the true added value of an integrated approach to preventing and detecting emerging and re-emerging diseases. The following provides brief summaries for several meetings that have transpired over the last decade to describe the narrative of the One Health concept to date.

For more, please see: http://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/meetings.html#four and the attached PDF.

Information provided by: One Health supporter, Kathleen F. Grensheimer, MD, MPH, FIDSA, Public Health Consultant Infectious Diseases, Cambridge, Mass.

Reminder...

Important New “One Health” Oriented Journal Publication from Sweden

Infection Ecology and Epidemiology – This journal is now available and online.   Read more here and see attachment.

Aims & Scope

Infection Ecology & Epidemiology (IEE) is a peer-reviewed Open Access journal aiming to be a truly international forum for the free exchange of original, cross-disciplinary, high quality papers from researchers in multiple medical and ecological disciplines engaged in describing the complexity of zoonotic infections and what exactly happens at the interface between wild and domestic animals, and humans.

Please see: http://www.infectionecologyandepidemiology.net and http://www.infee.se/infee/node/6.  Also see message from IEE Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor on today’s One Health Initiative website’s News page http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/news.php.

Swiss Med Wkly. 2011;141:w13201 - Published 13 May 2011

One Health in Switzerland: A visionary concept at a crossroads?

Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Human and Animal Health Unit, Swiss Tropical Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland

 Please see attachment or click on http://www.smw.ch/content/smw-2011-13201/

Provided by: Andrea Meisser; DVM, MPH, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, PO Box, CH-4002 Basel, Switzerland, andrea.meisser@unibas.ch

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

The Biological Weapons Convention: Proceeding without a verification protocol

[... "One Health" efforts including surveillance of human, animal, and plant diseases should be encouraged, expanded, and supported. ...]

By Laura H. Kahn, MD, MPH, MPP | 9 May 2011

The Seventh Review Conference of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) will be held this December in Geneva, with member states convening to assess the bioweapons nonproliferation regime and discuss ways to improve it. But is it worth trying to strengthen the BWC? Since its inception, the treaty has been plagued with well-recognized deficiencies: It lacks an implementing body, a verification protocol, an ability to investigate alleged violations, universality (it has only 163 member states), and industry support. Even after signing and ratifying the treaty, some member states (the Soviet Union, Iraq, and South Africa) contravened it by pursuing clandestine bioweapons programs. Yet despite its weaknesses, the BWC is an important part of the nonproliferation regime; improving it -- with or without a verification protocol -- is in the best interest of biosecurity. ...

Please read complete article:

 http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/columnists/laura-h-kahn/the-biological-weapons-convention-proceeding-without-verificatio  

 The Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses (CPHAZ) to hold a 2011 one day scientific symposium:

 "Human and Animal Health Research: Molecule to Population"

 June 9th, 2011 - 8:30 am - 4:30 pm, in the Oakwood Ballroom at the Holiday Inn in Guelph, Ontario (Canada).

 Please See Attached PDF

1^st International One Health 2011 Congress Organising and Scientific Advisory Committee

Dear all,

On behalf of the 1^st International One Health 2011 Congress Organising and Scientific Advisory Committee, we would like to extend our sincere thanks to everyone who contributed to making the 1^st International Congress such a success.

We would like to thank you all for your patience and would like to announce that the PDF Presentation are NOW available!

Please click here or visit the Congress 2011 website to view the presentations – www.onehealth2011.com.

*Please note: Not all presentations are available. Only those presentations that were given permission by their presenter are online to view.

 Also available online on the One Health 2011 Congress:

·         1^st International One Health 2011 Congress Report. Please click here to view

·         Congress Photo Gallery. Please click here to view

We hope to see you all at the next One Health Congress.

Kind regards,

Amy

One Health 2011 Congress Managers