Human Animal Interface – SARINET https://sarinet.org Wed, 27 Mar 2024 21:25:14 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://sarinet.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/cropped-Logo_SARInet-32x32.png Human Animal Interface – SARINET https://sarinet.org 32 32 Call to action to establish the Intersectoral Commission for the Prevention and Control of Zoonotic Influenza in the Americas https://sarinet.org/2024/03/27/call-to-action-to-establish-the-intersectoral-commission-for-the-prevention-and-control-of-zoonotic-influenza-in-the-americas/ https://sarinet.org/2024/03/27/call-to-action-to-establish-the-intersectoral-commission-for-the-prevention-and-control-of-zoonotic-influenza-in-the-americas/#respond Wed, 27 Mar 2024 21:25:14 +0000 https://sarinet.org/?p=6252 To effectively manage the escalating threat of Avian Influenza (AI) in the Americas, it is crucial to establish an Intersectoral Commission for guiding decisive actions on prevention, surveillance, preparedness, response, and control. This Call to Action stems from the profound human and economic toll of past pandemics and the expanding occurrence of AI in terms of both affected geographical areas, including ecosystems, and animal species in this Region. Strengthening prevention and control capacities are crucial tasks that require collaborative efforts by public and private stakeholders along the human-animal-environmental interface.

The Call to action is for national authorities and the Pan American Sanitary Bureau (PASB) to establish the Intersectoral Commission for the Prevention and Control of Zoonotic Influenza in the Americas. The support of all relevant stakeholders, including international organizations and subregional mechanisms, is critical to this aim. Under this Call, the PASB shall continue to serve as the convening entity of the Intersectoral Commission.

The Intersectoral Commission aims to foster One Health (OH) at country level, bringing together diverse perspectives and interests to ensure sustainable national and regional early detection, response and control for AI and other zoonotic influenza. PASB shall produce a draft statute of the Intersectoral Commission based on the inputs of the Regional Meeting on the Intersectoral Commission for the Prevention and Control of Avian Influenza (and other Zoonotic Influenza) in the Americas held on 12–14 March 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The draft statute shall be shared with Member States and other relevant stakeholders, including international organizations and subregional mechanisms. All participants of this meeting are urged to facilitate a participative in-country revision of the draft statute of the Intersectoral Commission. In due course, PASB shall submit the proposed statute of the Intersectoral Commission to its Governing Bodies. By working collaboratively within this framework and in the spirit of achieving the establishment and operationalization of the Intersectoral Commission, Member States and all relevant stakeholders will contribute to a successful outcome on the health and food security in the Americas and beyond.

This Call to action is in response to the PASB regional OH policy, which calls for Member States to implement OH strategies/actions and for the PASB to provide technical cooperation. Furthermore, the request to establish the Intersectoral Commission, including hosting its technical and administrative secretariat, respond to appeals to the PASB from different animal health mechanisms and organizations. These includes the Permanent Veterinary Committee of the Southern Cone (CVP), the General Secretariat of the Andean Community (SGCAN), and the International Regional Organization for Agricultural Health (OIRSA).

The Southern Agricultural Council (CAS) comprised by the Ministers of Agriculture of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay has also endorsed this initiative. Additionally, the creation of this commission was also recommended during the Regional Consultation for Strengthening Intersectoral Work at the Human-Animal Interface of Avian Influenza, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 14-16 March 2023.

Credits and thanks to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).

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Regional Meeting on an Intersectoral Commission for the Prevention and Control of Avian Influenza (and other Zoonotic Influenza) in the Americas

]]> https://sarinet.org/2024/03/27/call-to-action-to-establish-the-intersectoral-commission-for-the-prevention-and-control-of-zoonotic-influenza-in-the-americas/feed/ 0 PAHO and countries of the Americas seek to establish an intersectoral commission to prevent and control avian influenza https://sarinet.org/2024/02/14/paho-and-countries-of-the-americas-seek-to-establish-an-intersectoral-commission-to-prevent-and-control-avian-influenza/ https://sarinet.org/2024/02/14/paho-and-countries-of-the-americas-seek-to-establish-an-intersectoral-commission-to-prevent-and-control-avian-influenza/#respond Wed, 14 Feb 2024 21:10:56 +0000 https://sarinet.org/?p=6248 Río de Janeiro, Brazil, 14 March 2024 – In order to strengthen surveillance, prevention and control of avian influenza in both animals and humans, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) convened its 35 member states in Brazil this week to establish a regional commission to combat the disease. The meeting took place at a time when the world is experiencing high levels of transmission of the virus among birds and mammals, which poses a potential risk to public health.

Participants agreed on the need to create an intersectoral commission to strengthen detection, prevention and response to zoonotic influenza. “It is essential to promote this commission under the “One Health” approach to comprehensively address zoonoses,” said Dr. Sylvain Aldighieri, Director of PAHO’s Department of Prevention, Control and Elimination of Communicable Diseases.

The Inter-sectoral Commission for the Prevention and Control of Avian Influenza in the Americas will enable public, animal and environmental health sectors to exchange updated information on surveillance, epidemiological risk and evolution of circulating viruses. The commission is also expected to promote strategies at the national, sub-regional and regional levels and strengthen coordination.

PAHO’s Health Emergency Department and the Pan American Center for Foot and Mouth Disease and Veterinary Public Health (PANAFTOSA) led the March 12-14 meeting to discuss the Commission’s objectives, structure and operation.

“One Health” is an approach that fosters intersectoral collaboration to prevent zoonotic and vector-borne diseases by mobilizing diverse stakeholders such as veterinarians, physicians, epidemiologists and community leaders.

It is estimated that 75% of emerging human infectious diseases originate in animals. Since 2020, a variant of avian influenza virus subtype A(H5N1) has caused deaths in wild birds and poultry in multiple countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and, in 2022, spread to Central and South America.

In January 2023, the first case of human infection with avian influenza A(H5N1) was reported in Latin America, and since then, several countries in the region have confirmed cases in both birds and humans. So far, human cases of avian influenza have been sporadic, and no sustained human-to-human transmission has been identified.

“It is crucial that countries continue to strengthen early detection and containment of any event or outbreak at the human-animal interface,” Dr. Ciro Ugarte, Director of PAHO’s Department of Health Emergencies, said. “The various sectors involved must collaborate on both surveillance and response.”

The new Commission will comprise specialists in the areas of seasonal influenza, zoonosis, pandemics, epidemiology and laboratory from ministries of health in the Americas. It will also include veterinary officials, representatives of the environmental sector, and collaborating centers, with PAHO acting as secretariat.

According to Ottorino Cosivi, Director of PANAFTOSA, the Commission “will act as a catalyst for regional work to address avian influenza.” Cosivi highlighted the effectiveness of other regional mechanisms coordinated by PAHO, such as REDIPRA, which facilitates intersectoral collaboration in the fight against rabies in the Americas and has contributed significantly towards the elimination of this disease in the region.

Also participating in the meeting this week were representatives of several organizations, including the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), the International Regional Organization for Plant and Animal Health (OIRSA), the Caribbean Animal Health Network (CaribVET), the Executive Secretariat of the Council of Ministers of Health of Central America and the Dominican Republic (SE-COMISCA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and WHO collaborating centers for human and animal influenza.

Credits and thanks to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO)

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