HEALTH - Global Pandemics: What Puts us at Risk?

(World Health Organization)

Although pandemics are not a new phenomenon even for modern humans, the risks are increasing.

SARS, Ebola, Swine and Avian Flu, Zika – global health challenges have been mounting, and the next crisis-level pandemic will likely come from an unexpected source, and will hit with unprecedented force.

Although vaccination and hygiene mitigate the risk, other factors exacerbate it.

Travel is one of the biggest issues, particularly air travel. Humans travel faster than they ever have before, and across greater distances.

Infections can be carried from one population to another population in a different part of the world before the carrier even knows that they’re sick.

However, travel is not inherently an issue – pre-colonial Africans travelled widely, but had precautions in place to prevent the spread of illnesses.

One of their most effective strategies is simply no longer an option - spreading people out, so that one group of infected people would not result in an entire population being exposed.

This changed with colonization, and today global urbanization and population density pose some of the greatest risks.

It is not feasible to quarantine people with enough time and enough distance to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, and becoming less feasible by the year.

The UN estimates that over half the global population will live in urban areas by 2050.

Global inequality is another major risk factor, in a few different ways.

Civil unrest leaves countries vulnerable to an outbreak by putting exceptional strain on their resources and infrastructure, and countries are more likely to experience conflict when they are struggling economically.

Civil unrest is also contagious itself, meaning that the spread of conflict and the spread of disease can go hand-in-hand.

Global inequality also means that the regions most likely to experience an outbreak are also least likely to attract and retain qualified medical staff.

There are better prospects elsewhere, and qualified medical staff are unlikely to stay in impoverished countries where there is neither the compensation nor the infrastructure to support their work.

Referred to as “brain drain,” this migration of health workers has been an issue since the early 20th century.

However, it is not only the behaviour of humans that contributes to this current escalated threat level.

Zoonotic diseases are also a significant source of threat, even more urgently than they have been in the past.

Both Zoobiquity and the One Health Initiative aim to take a holistic view of human and animal health, recognizing and responding to zoonotic threats – those diseases that can jump the species barrier.

Until now, most of the concerns around zoonotic diseases have been with those diseases that move from animals to humans, such as swine and avian flu, ringworm and other parasites (including rat lungworm disease), and rabies.

Recently, a vet contracted avian flu from a cat – demonstrating just how easily some diseases hop between species.

But the recent rise of reverse zoonotic diseases is a growing concern.

Not only are animals at risk from reverse zoonoses, but humans are also at increased risk of both reinfection from their infected pets, and also of mutated and potentially more harmful diseases that cross back into the human population.

A study in 2006 concluded that MRSA was able to transmit back and forth between pets and humans, making treatment difficult and lengthy.

Finally, when discussing global health, it’s impossible to ignore the state of the globe itself.

Climate change is a factor in the rising risk of a global pandemic.

Heat waves and flooding are providing more opportunities for waterborne and mosquito-transmitted diseases in new locations.

Climate change also exacerbates the risk of civil unrest, and the pressure on urban locales.

These escalating shifts will continue to open up new risk areas, and governments and other agencies will need to keep up.

About Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a published academic, an editor with the Editors Association of Canada, an independent scholar and researcher, and a self-care and narrative coach. She is particularly interested in the intersection of technology and identity - how our tools shape our selves and change our stories, and in how the nature of work is changing as we incorporate more technology into our daily lives. 

HEALTH - Ricky's Restaurants Switch to Antibiotic & Hormone Free Meat

The Ricky's Group of Family-Style Restaurants announced it will be the first full-service Canadian-owned family restaurant chain to begin serving pork entrées on its breakfast menu that have been raised without any antibiotics or added hormones.

This step has been taken by other restaurants, notably A&W who promote this to consumers who are concerned about what is in what they eat.

Actions limiting antibiotic and hormone use are also in response to the rise in antibiotic resistance around the world.

The World Health Organization considers antimicrobial resistance a global concern.

Their website explains: “Antimicrobial resistance occurs naturally over time, usually through genetic changes. However, the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials is accelerating this process. In many places, antibiotics are overused and misused in people and animals, and often given without professional oversight. Examples of misuse include when they are taken by people with viral infections like colds and flu, and when they are given as growth promoters in animals and fish.”

As reported in InfoStream, the US is implementing the Veterinary Feed Directive to control the use of antibiotics in animals and the Canadian Government is also putting in new regulations for antimicrobial use by veterinarians.

Ricky's Senior Vice President Stacey Hansson said in a release, "We strongly agree with and support the 'don't take unnecessary antibiotics' message, telling the public that we don't need antibiotics every time we are not feeling well. And we definitely don't need them in our food. Antibiotics are for the sick, not the hungry."

The restaurant chain has been working with their pork producers for over a year on this initiative and is now working with its beef and chicken suppliers to make similar changes.

WHO Aims for Regional Elimination of Rabies by 2020

In Southeast Asia, it is estimated by the World Health Organization (WHO) that approximately 25,000 people die from rabies each year. WHO is working with Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the World Organization for Animal Health, and the Global Alliance for Rabies Control to reduce rabies infection in endemic countries.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation along with WHO have made differences in the Philippines, South Africa, and Tanzania. The current goal is to expand rabies control into new locations. One of the most successful approaches is to stockpile dog and human rabies vaccines. Several successful locations (elimination of rabies transmitted from dogs to people) include Chile, Costa Rica, Panama, and Uruguay.  

Elimination campaigns are starting in Southeast Asia. Bangladesh started an elimination program in 2010 and in three years human rabies deaths decreased by 50%. The Bangladesh elimination program includes managing dog bites, dog vaccinations, and free rabies vaccines.

Regional Director, WHO South-East Asia Region, Dr. Poonam Khetrapal Singh said, “National strategies are needed for rabies elimination with the focus on increasing public awareness and making cost effective post-exposure vaccination available to all. Ensuring post-exposure rabies vaccination to all in an equitable manner should be a key element of rabies elimination efforts. Communities have an important role to play in rabies elimination. Simple but important measures such as vaccinating pet dogs and cats against rabies, thoroughly washing dog bite wounds with soap and water, and taking rabies vaccination when exposed to bite of a rabid or suspected animal, will strengthen rabies elimination efforts.” 1

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