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The World Health Organization is holding a 3-day conference this week in Mexico City called Health Risks in Human-Animal Ecosystems, attended by more than 100 experts from 30 countries.
Their goal is to coordinate, and improve, the global response to future outbreaks of zoonotic diseases; those that jump between animals and humans.
At this week’s conference, WHO Assistant Director-General of Health Security and Environment Keiji Fukuda warned on the inevitability of the world seeing another pandemic, calling it was a matter of when, not `if’.
He is further quoted by Reuters as saying:
"We do face the risk of another pandemic in the future. We know that the viruses which can cause influenza pandemic circulate in animals and then we don't know when one of those viruses then becomes highly infectious for people and then spreads around the world. We also don't know when something like that happens, which we do expect in the future someday, when something like that happens we don't know how severe the effect will be."
Working as an alliance, the WHO, FAO, and OIE formally joined forces in 2010 with the issuance of a Tripartite Concept Note outlining their collaborative efforts.
Their stated goal is to `coordinate global activities to address health risks at the animal-human-ecosystems interface’.
The WHO webpage Zoonoses and veterinary public health (VPH) provides a description of zoonotic pathogens for us:
Any disease or infection that is naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans and vice-versa is classified as a zoonosis according to the PAHO publication "Zoonoses and communicable diseases common to man and animals".
Over 200 zoonoses have been described and they have been known for many centuries. They are caused by all types of agents: bacteria, parasites, fungi, viruses and unconventional agents.
Twice in the last decade (SARS in 2003, and Swine Flu in 2009) we saw how quickly viruses normally found in non-human hosts can evolve and adapt to humans and spread globally.
Which is why efforts such as Global Early Warning System for Major Animal Diseases, including Zoonoses (GLEWS) have been set up to detect, and provide early warning of animal disease threats
The WHO lists the criteria by which events are assessed by the GLEWS task force as:
Triggers and GLEWS diseases
What triggers GLEWS
A potential event is assessed according to criteria derived from the International Health Regulations (2005) and the Terrestrial Animal Health Code from OIE:
- Is the public health impact of the event serious?
- High morbidity and/or high mortality in humans and/or animals.
- Emerging disease with significant mortality and/or morbidity or zoonotic potential.
- Is the event unusual or unexpected?
- First occurrence or reoccurrence of a disease/strain.
- Unusual event for the area or season.
- Event associated with an unknown agent.
- Is there significant risk of international spread or interference with international travel or trade?
You’ll find more information, including a priority list of zoonotic pathogens, on this page as well.
There are other efforts out there to detect or provide early warning for the next emerging pathogen, including (but not limited to):
- Nathan Wolfe’s Global Viral Forecasting Initiative (GVFI) (see Nathan Wolfe On Pandemic Prevention),
- The National Biological Information Infrastructure (NBII)
- Promed Mail
- The volunteer efforts of the newshounds on the flu forums (see Newshounds: They Cover The Pandemic Front).
While the 2009 H1N1 pandemic is ended, it is important to remember that the world remains at pre-pandemic phase III on the H5N1 virus.
But as SARS showed us in 2003, sometimes a pathogen can emerge with little or no warning. Hence the need for nations, businesses, and individuals to be prepared for the unexpected.
