Research Committee Selected Articles for the Week of Jan 26, 2015
Stein R.A. Political will and international collaborative frameworks in infectious diseases(International Journal of Clinical Practice )
Wendt A. et al. Hypothesis on the source, transmission and characteristics of infection of avian influenza A (H7N9) virus - based on analysis of field epidemiological investigation and gene sequence analysis(Zoonoses and Public Health )★
Ling F. et al. Zoonotic disease surveillance - Inventory of systems integrating human and animal disease information(Zoonoses and Public Health) ★
★ - ISDS Article Award Potential
Political will and international collaborative frameworks in infectious diseases
Summary: The last few decades have been marked by a rapid expansion in the world's population, along with an increasingly dynamic mobility of individuals. This accelerated global inter-connectedness enabled microorganisms to reach virtually any location worldwide more rapidly and efficiently than ever before, reshaping the global dynamics of pathogens. As a result, a local infectious disease outbreak anywhere in the world may almost instantaneously assume global dimensions, and should therefore be considered a global priority. The history of several infectious diseases illustrates that in addition to prophylactic and therapeutic medical interventions, the interplay of social, economic, and political factors makes a fundamental contribution to the outcome of infectious disease outbreaks. Furthermore, this multi- and cross-disciplinary interconnectedness is a key determinant of the outcome of efforts to eradicate vaccine-preventable infectious diseases. A combined framework that incorporates teachings provided by previous outbreaks, and integrates medical and biomedical interventions with contributions made by social, economic, and political factors, emerges as vital requirement of successful global public health initiatives.
Hypothesis on the source, transmission and characteristics of infection of avian influenza A (H7N9) virus - based on analysis of field epidemiological investigation and gene sequence analysis
Summary: Although 65% of recent major disease outbreaks throughout the world have a zoonotic origin, there is still a sharp division among the disciplines into the human and animal health sectors. In the last few decades, a global integrative concept, often referred to as 'One Health', has been strongly endorsed. Surveillance and monitoring efforts are major components for effective disease prevention and control. As human health and animal health are inextricably linked, it is assumed that a cross-sectoral data interpretation of zoonotic disease information will improve their prevention, prediction and control. To provide an overview of existing systems throughout the world which integrate information from humans and animals on zoonotic diseases, a literature review was conducted. Twenty projects were identified and described regarding their concepts and realization. They all vary widely depending on their surveillance purpose, their structure and the source of information they use. What they have in common is that they quite often use data which have already been collected for another purpose. Therefore, the challenges of how to make use of such secondary data are of great interest.
Zoonotic disease surveillance - Inventory of systems integrating human and animal disease information
Summary: On 31 March 2013, the National Health and Family Planning Commission announced that human infections with influenza A (H7N9) virus had occurred in Shanghai and Anhui provinces, China. H7N9 cases were later detected in Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. It was estimated that the virus first spread northward along the route taken by migratory birds and then spread to neighbouring provinces with the sale of poultry. Epidemiological studies were carried out on samples from the external environment of infected cases, transmission routes, farmers markets and live poultry markets. Phylogenetic study of viral sequences from human and avian infections in Zhejiang showed that those from Shanghai and Jiangsu provinces along Taihu Lake were highly homologous with those from the external environment. This suggests that avian viruses carried by waterfowl combined with the virus carried by migratory birds, giving rise to avian influenza virus H7N9, which is highly pathogenic to humans. It is possible that the virus was transmitted by local wildfowl to domestic poultry and then to humans, or spread further by means of trading in wholesale poultry markets. As the weather has turned warm, and with measures adopted to terminate poultry trade and facilitate health communication, the epidemic in the first half of the year has been kept under control. However, the infection source in the triangular area around Taihu Lake still remains. The H7N9 epidemic will probably hit the area later in the year and next spring when the migratory birds return and may even spread to other areas. Great importance should therefore be attached to the wildfowl in Taihu Lake as the repository and disseminator of the virus: investigation and study of this population is essential.
