Sustaining Global Surveillance and Response to Emerging Zoonotic Diseases (2009)

[Laidback Al]

Gerald T. Keusch, MD, said bats are a "largely unknown, underinvestigated, poorly understood, now-definitive vector for new emerging viruses." . . . Dr. Keusch was co-chair of an Institute of Medicine and National Research Council committee that produced the 2009 report "Sustaining Global Surveillance and Response to Emerging Zoonotic Diseases." . . . The report, he said, "kind of sits on people's shelves, and nobody acts on it." link

Here is information on Dr. Keusch's report.

Sustaining Global Surveillance and Response to Emerging Zoonotic Diseases

Released: September 22, 2009
Outbreaks of avian influenza H5N1 (?bird flu?), severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), and pandemic H1N1 2009 (so called ?swine flu?) over the past decade demonstrate how zoonotic diseases?which are caused by bacteria, viruses, parasites, or unconventional agents and are transmissible between humans and animals?can threaten both health and economies around the world.

Zoonotic pathogens have caused more than 65 percent of emerging infectious disease events since 1950, and because the diseases often are new, societies are unprepared to treat them. Moreover, the severity of illness in different species is unpredictable and widely variable. Unfortunately, for several reasons, disease surveillance in the United States and abroad is not very effective in alerting officials to emerging zoonotic diseases.

In response to this challenge, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) approached the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the National Research Council (NRC) for advice on how to improve and sustain global capacity for surveillance and response to emerging zoonotic diseases. The IOM and NRC?s 2009 report Sustaining Global Surveillance and Response to Emerging Zoonotic Diseases calls for the United States to take the lead, working with global health organizations to establish a global surveillance system that better integrates the human and animal health sectors, resulting in improved early detection and response.

Conclusion

Minimizing morbidity and mortality in human and animal popul tions and protecting national and global security, international trade, and individual livelihoods through a sustainable and integrated zoonotic disease surveillance system is both a global public good and in the self-interest of all nations. Steadfast global dedication of attention and resources from multiple collaborating sectors is needed to achieve such a system, and it will also require unprecedented collaboration across all levels, sectors, and professional disciplines. Implementing all of the committee's recommendations would also strengthen the global implementation of IHR 2005, WHO's legal mechanism for improving disease surveillance and response capacities for its member countries. The committee's recommendations reflect elements and resources needed to strengthen global efforts to improve zoonotic disease surveillance and response.

REPORT BRIEF: Sustaining Global Surveillance and Response to Emerging Zoonotic Diseases

Recommendations of the Committee on achieving sustainable global capacity for surveillance and response to emerging diseases of zoonotic origin

Read full report as pdf on line:
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12625&page=R1

hat tip to Shiloh