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SEE: https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/942946?nlid=138819_439&src=WNL_mdplsfeat_201222_mscpedit_publ&uac=82582CT&spon=42&impID=2754551&faf=1#vp_2

“… Germ Hunters Join Forces

But what if instead of an eleventh-hour clamber to investigate an unidentified pathogen, there was a network of scientists on call to leap into action?

That’s the goal of a new network launched in August by Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Named the Centers for Research in Emerging Infectious Diseases (CREID), it has a team of scientists strategically placed around the world in major centers, with others entrenched on the fringes of human settlement where hunters and farmers may be exposed to novel pathogens; near villages where human-to-human transmission begins; and where unusual cases of fever, encephalitis, and sudden death start to crop up.

The network was funded with $82 million over 5 years. Wang, now a professor at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, heads the Asia and East Africa division. …”

SEE World must be ready for the next pandemic, UN says on first International Day of Epidemic Preparedness | | UN News

One Health Approach 

WHO Video | WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on the
International Day for Epidemic Preparedness

In a separate message, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the UN World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted the importance of a “One Health Approach”, which integrates human health, animal health and plant health, as well as environmental factors.

This is all the more important given that 75 per cent of new and emerging human infectious diseases are zoonotic, caused by germs that spread between animals and people.

“Any efforts to improve human health are doomed unless they address the critical interface between human and animals,” said Dr. Tedros.

The head of WHO also urged countries to invest in preparedness capacity to prevent, detect and mitigate emergencies, and reiterated the importance of strong primary health systems as the foundation of universal health coverage as well as the “eyes and ears” of health systems everywhere.

“True preparedness is not just a job of the health sector, it requires an all-of-government and all-of-society approach,” he added.

www.agriculture.pa.gov › AHDServices › diseases › Pa…

The Pennsylvania One Health Task Force supports this line of thinking by assembling a group of federal, state and academic stakeholders to work together, with …

“This field test project is unprecedented and illustrates the importance of One Health, a collaboration between human and animal health sectors,” Commissioner Charlie Hatcher, D.V.M. said. “It will be a game-changer for animal agriculture and the food supply chain and raise Tennessee’s standing as a national leader in enhanced disease surveillance and testing. We’re grateful for USDA’s recognition with this grant award.”

November / December 2020 | Volume 19, Number 6

December 2020 One Health Happenings

In Memoriam This Issue of One Health Happenings is dedicated to long time One Health Champion Lisa Conti, DVM, MPH, DACVPM, CPM who left this earth on November 7 after a long battle with cancer. Even when we see and know it is coming, losing this precious One Health champion (https://bit.ly/3ljp9mR) is heart-wrenching. Lisa, you are a beautiful soul. Your warm, calm, level-headed, insightful, respectful, knowledge and never ceasing commitment to the One Health movement cannot be replaced. You have left a hole in all our hearts. We promise to carry on, to keep the faith, and just keep swimming towards a day when One Health truly is the default way of doing business around the world. Sending you Hugs in Heaven. The One Health Commission

Dr. Conti was a cherished member of the One Health Initiative Autonomous pro bono Team:

Laura H. Kahn, MD, MPH, MPP ▪ Bruce Kaplan, DVM ▪ Thomas P. Monath, MD ▪ *Lisa A. Conti, DVM, MPH ▪ Thomas M. Yuill, PhD ▪ Helena J. Chapman, MD, MPH, PhD ▪ Craig N. Carter, DVM, PhD ▪ Becky Barrentine, MBA  *Deceased November 6, 2020

“It is this ideal of intersectoral collaboration that is embodied in the One Health framework to tackle zoonotic diseases. One Health requires that

all relevant sectors and disciplines across the human–animal–environment interface are involved to address health in a way that is more effective, efficient, or sustainable than might be achieved if not all relevant sectors were engaged. (WHO-FAO-OIE 2019)”

Whither One Health in India?Challenges to Adopting Global Strategies for Tackling Zoonotic Diseases

The COVID-19 pandemic has sharply brought into focus how intrusions into natural landscapes are not just environmental concerns, but are also intricately entangled with public health. Little attention has been paid to systemic causes such as large-scale biodiversity loss that underlie the emergence and re-emergence of these diseases. Institutional networks of public and animal health in India that are involved in the surveillance and control of zoonoses are outlined herein. It is shown that the lack of a systematic framework that explicitly involves institutions that manage biodiversity and wildlife health leads to gaps in operationalising a One Health framework in India. Addressing these lacunae requires a supra-ministerial mechanism that brings together public health, ecology, and veterinary and social sciences to combat the threats posed by existing and emerging zoonoses.

 This study was conducted as a part of the preparatory phase project of the National Mission on Biodiversity and Human Well-being, which is catalysed and supported by the Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.

November 2020 Impakter Magazine “One Health” Publications with co-author…

 *Richard Seifman, JD, MBA: Former World Bank Senior Health Advisor and U.S. Alternate Representative to Food Agricultural Organization.

1. Health Illiteracy – Why a Silent Epidemic Needs a “One Health” Approach, Bruce Kaplan & Richard Seifman, November 27, 2020
2. COVID-19: Why More than Vaccines are Needed—One Health Approach, Bruce Kaplan & Richard Seifman, November 13, 2020
3. How COVID Disrupts Education and Training of Physicians and Veterinarians, Bruce Kaplan & Richard Seifman, November 6, 2020

*Member One Health Initiative Advisory Board (Hon.)

Abstract

Background

Birds can act as reservoirs of tick-borne pathogens and can also disperse pathogen-containing ticks to both nearby and remote localities. The aims of this study were to estimate tick infestation patterns on migratory birds and the prevalence of different Borrelia species and tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) in ticks removed from birds in south-eastern Sweden.

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages globally, interest in antiviral treatments has never been higher. Antibodies are key defence components, and engineering them to better exploit their natural functions might boost therapeutic options.

As the COVID-19 pandemic rages globally, interest in antiviral treatments has never been higher. Antibodies are key defence components, and engineering them to better exploit their natural functions might boost therapeutic options.

The use of antibodies to combat human disease dates back to the 1890s. At that time, the physiologist Emil von Behring used blood extracts from rabbits infected with the bacterium that causes diphtheria to tackle that infection. It was discovered only later that antibodies targeting the bacterium were the active ingredient. Amazingly, such serum therapy is still practised today. For example, blood (described as convalescent plasma) donated by people who have recovered from COVID-19, which contains antibodies targeting the SARS-CoV-2 virus, is used as a treatment for people with coronavirus infection. Writing in Nature, Bournazos et al.¹ report progress in efforts to aid antiviral responses by engineering human antibodies to enhance their antiviral activity.

Antibodies are a key component of what is called the adaptive branch of the immune system. They can recognize a part of a foreign molecule called an antigen and mobilize various immune processes to neutralize the threat posed by the disease-causing agent. From the work in this area since von Behring’s discovery, punctuated by multiple Nobel prizes, we have learnt much about the regulation, structure and function of antibodies, and their use in the clinic has grown exponentially (see go.nature.com/3kltoq7) . Nevertheless, efforts to manipulate, engineer and improve antibodies remain highly topical.  …