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 - Two New Canine Flu Vaccines Developed

It’s flu season and not just for humans - dogs get the flu too.

To combat canine influenza, scientists at University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry have developed the two new vaccines.

Currently veterinarians use vaccines that include inactivated or killed flu virus, but experts say they provide short-term, limited protection.

The new vaccines are “live-attenuated”  and work against H3N8 canine influenza virus, which is currently circulating in dogs in the US, along with the H3N2 virus.

Past research shows that live-attenuated vaccines, made from live flu virus that is dampened down so that it doesn’t cause the flu, provide better immune responses and longer periods of protection.

Scientists, led by Luis Martinez-Sobrido, Ph.D., used a genetic engineering technique called reserve genetics to create a live vaccine that replicates in the nose, but not in the lungs.

The nose is where the virus first enters a dog’s body, so generating an immune response there could stop the virus in its tracks.

The study found the vaccine was safe and able to induce better immune protection against H3N8 canine influenza virus in mice and dog tracheal cells than a commercially available inactivated vaccine.

To develop the second vaccine the team used reserve genetics to remove a protein called NS1 from H3N8 canine influenza virus.

Previous studies have shown that deleting the NS1 viral protein significantly weakens flu viruses so that they elicit an immune response but don’t cause illness, and this process has been successfully used for humans, horses and more.

The next step is clinical trials with dogs.

The team’s goal is to come up with new options to stem the spread of canine influenza in shelters and kennels, and to avoid the transmission of a dog flu virus to people.

According to the CDC there has been no evidence of transmission of canine influenza viruses from dogs to people and there has not been a single reported case of human infection with a canine influenza virus.

“However, influenza viruses are constantly changing and it is possible for a virus to change so that it could infect humans and spread easily between humans.”

This potential was recently illustrated when a veterinarian contracted avian flu (H7N2) through contact with a cat - the first time cats had gotten avian flu and first time it was passed to a human via a feline.  

By preventing dogs from getting the flu in the first place, the risk to humans in negated.

Canine influenza H3N8 virus originated in horses and has been known to exist in horses for more than 40 years.

The first canine infections were discovered in 2004 in greyhounds.

Symptoms include cough, runny nose and fever, but not all dogs will show signs of illness.

The severity of illness associated with canine flu in dogs can range from no signs to severe illness resulting in pneumonia and sometimes death.

HEALTH - Vaccine Debate Part One: The History

(Variolation - pbs.org NOVA)

Vaccine history is unexpectedly fascinating and complex.

It is older than Louis Pasteur finding a vaccine (and cure) for rabies in 1885, older even than Edward Jenner’s 1798 use of cowpox to confer smallpox immunity.

Humans have been using infected material to inoculate domesticated animal populations, and themselves, for much longer than the practice has been documented.

The history of vaccination, and of the symbiotic interplay between human and veterinary medicine, offers insight into yet another way that our relationship with domestic animals enhances our lives.

Veterinary vaccines protect human health by limiting the spread of zoonotic diseases – those diseases, such as rabies, that can be transmitted from animals to humans – and there is a long history of the two fields of medicine learning from one another.

Farmers and nomadic herders, like the Tulani in Africa, have inoculated herd animals against diseases such as sheep pox for centuries. Animal inoculation was mentioned in the notes of European explorers and colonizers in Africa as early as the 16th Century.

There is evidence of human variolation, which is a similar type of inoculation via infectious material, in China at 1000 CE, and in 1706 a British minister learned of variolation against smallpox in Turkey.

Although the origins of the practice are not known, it is likely that human variolation was a result of applying successful veterinary techniques to human health care.

Variolation was effective but unpredictable. Smallpox variolation involved introducing infected human material taken from smallpox scabs or the fluid in pustules into healthy humans, often via an open vein. Although it offered solid immunity, there was a significant risk of post-inoculation mortality.

Smallpox vaccination, in contrast, used cowpox to inoculate humans, and this procedure, which was pioneered by Edward Jenner (1749-1823), was much safer. It was also less effective over time, and though the post-inoculation mortality rate was lower, revaccination was often necessary.

The history of smallpox vaccination perfectly demonstrates how human and animal vaccination have overlapped and intertwined.

Variolation likely started among animals, and was transferred to humans, and the development of vaccination as a safer alternative to variolation happened simultaneously among human and veterinary physicians.

The practice of vaccination itself went through multiple iterations including using humans as vaccine reservoirs, then back to using cows as the vaccine source, and many attempts to transport the vaccine outside of a living body.

This complicated interplay between human and animal medicine continues throughout vaccine history, and extends even into our current context.

Louis Pasteur expanded the understanding of viruses and vaccines, and worked with veterinarians and livestock farmers to develop his first two virus vaccines - against fowl cholera and anthrax. He eventually turned his attention to rabies, and this work would not have been possible without his collaboration with veterinarians.

These collaborations continue today.

When a disease affects both human and animal populations, sometimes the human vaccine comes first and sometimes the animal vaccine does, but there is always collaboration happening between the two fields of medicine.

The history of inoculation among both animals and humans extends further back than most people realize, and so do the controversies surrounding vaccine use.

Part two in this series will look at vaccine controversies, from anti-vaccination arguments in the 1880’s to today.

By Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a writer, editor, academic, and animal lover who came late to her appreciation of pets. At 18, a rescue pup named Tasha saved her from a depression and she hasn't looked back. She has worked as the canine behaviour program coordinator for the Calgary Humane Society, and was a dog trainer specializing in working with fearful and reactive dogs for many years. She doesn't have any pets right now, but makes up for it by giving her petsitting clients (and any dogs she comes across on her frequent coffee shop adventures) extra snuggles.

Canine Parvovirus on the Rise in Calgary and Surrounding Communities

Veterinarians in Calgary and Okotoks are warning dog owners about a rise in incidence of the potentially fatal canine parvovirus.

The virus can be transmitted by any person, animal or object that comes in contact with an infected dog's feces. Highly resistant, parvovirus can live in the environment for months, and may survive on inanimate objects such as food bowls, shoes, clothes, carpet and floors.

"Animals can become lethargic, their appetite can become decreased so they'll be eating less but the most common signs that we see is vomiting and diarrhea," Dr. Brian McBride, Coach Hill Veterinary Hospital, told CTV.

Puppies and adolescent dogs are especially susceptible to parvovirus.

There is no cure for the virus and treatment can be quite expensive but it is preventable through vaccination.

Since the development of a vaccine, the disease isn’t as rampant but outbreaks do still occur - emphasizing the need for dog owners to keep their pets’ vaccinations up-to-date.

What Should You Know about Canine Influenza?

A canine influenza outbreak has occurred in Illinois and other Midwestern States. The outbreak was initially believed to be due to the H3N8 virus which has been found in the United States since 2004. However, it has been determined that the outbreak is due to a different influenza virus. H3N2 is the culprit for the current influenza outbreak and it typically causes more severe symptoms than H3N8 though not all infected animals will display symptoms. Both influenza strains can cause fever, decreased appetite, coughing, nasal discharge, and lethargy. H3N2 is also capable of infecting cats.

An Influenza A H3N8 Rt-PCR will not detect the H3N2 virus however an H3N2-specific serology assay is currently being developed. The current vaccine for H3N8 may not provide any protection against this new virus. Cornell University recommends that dog and cat owners avoid geographic areas where the virus is active. Should one live in an area where the virus can be found it, avoid places where dogs are in close quarters such as dog parks and grooming facilities. Joe Schwartz, Public Information Officer from Cornell University recommends that owners of symptomatic dogs and cats should consult their veterinarians about testing and treatment.

Scott Weese, from the Worms and Germs Blog has compiled a list of infection control measures:

• If your dog is sick, keep it away from other dogs.
• If your dog has been exposed to dogs that might have been infected, keep it away from other dogs.
• Don't travel to an endemic region with your dog. 
• Don’t travel out of an endemic region with your dog.
• Don’t import dogs from shelters, puppy mills or similar facilities in areas where H3N2 is active. 
• If the virus is active in your area, decrease dog-dog contact.

READ THE REPORT BY CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Canine Flu Outbreak in Illinois, Sickens Hundreds and Kills 5

In the past month over 1,000 cases of canine influenza have been identified in Cook County, Illinois. So far five dogs have died from the infection. While the flu is not dangerous to humans, people can be carriers of the disease and bring it home to their dogs. 

The Chicago Park District has posted warning signs recommending people to keep their dogs away from areas where they will come in contact with other dogs.  While a dog may appear healthy they can harbor the illness for up to a week before showing symptoms. Dr. Anne Cohen, an emergency and critical care veterinarian at Chicago Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Center suggests that owners consult their veterinarian should they feel concerned about their dog.

Symptoms of canine influenza are very similar to those seen in humans and include: fever, coughing, nasal discharge, and lethargy. 

READ THIS ABC NEWS ARTICLE FOR MORE INFORMATION