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 - Public Health and Veterinary Schools Form Innovative Partnership

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (the Bloomberg School) has inked its first partnership with a veterinary school to explore research collaborations and joint educational activities to benefit students at both institutions.

The agreement with the Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine in St. Kitts and Nevis in the West Indies, is reflective of the One Health approach to medicine.

"This new collaboration with Ross offers a platform to address important issues at the intersection of human and animal medicine, population health and food security,” said Michael J. Klag, dean of the Bloomberg School.

“Ross’ commitment to research on globally-significant public health issues make this collaboration a natural fit for our faculty and our students.”

The Bloomberg School has held the top spot in US News & World Report’s ranking of schools of public health since 1994. The school conducts research in 130 countries and is recognized as the largest school of public health in the world.

Ross has four major research centers, two of which will be directly involved in research collaborations with the Bloomberg School.

The One Health Center for Zoonoses and Tropical Veterinary Medicine investigates endemic infectious diseases in consideration of nationally, regionally and internationally recognized priorities and critical research gaps.

The Center for Conservation Medicine and Ecosystem Health focuses on the health of populations, communities and ecosystems, and works to provide novel solutions to complex ecological issues.

“About 75 percent of the new diseases that have affected humans over the past 10 years have been caused by pathogens originating from an animal or from products of animal origin,” said Sean Callanan, dean at Ross.

“Our new relationship with the Bloomberg School provides another avenue for our students to develop their capacity to play a role in addressing 21st century health challenges.”

One Health recognizes that the health of people is connected to the health of animals and the environment. 

The goal of One Health is to encourage the collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines-working locally, nationally, and globally-to achieve the best health for people, animals, and our environment.

HEALTH - Government Pet Policies and the One Health Movement

The One Health movement focuses on the connections between human, animal and environmental health.

It is about collaborations between physicians, osteopathic physicians, veterinarians, dentists, nurses and other scientific-health and environmentally related disciplines.

University of Calgary researchers are drawing on the One Health model to help build a framework to guide the development and assessment of government policies on pets.

Applications of One Health range from infectious disease control to dog-walking for physical activity and social engagement, to the social justice implications of cultural ideas about human-animal relationships.

It looks at pets from a pet-owner’s perspective as well as the point of view of someone who doesn’t care for animals.

“We are interested in how the wording and implementation of local governments’ policies on pets could minimize the potential for harm while maximizing the benefits of pets in cities,” says Melanie Rock, Joint Associate Professor at the Cumming School of Medicine’s Department of Community Health Sciences and the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Ecosystem and Public Health.

The researchers believe “A reconceptualization of healthy cities as entailing multispecies collectivities is needed because—increasingly and worldwide—people, domesticated animals and wildlife live in urbanized societies.”

Five intersecting spheres of activity, each associated with local governments' jurisdiction over pets, are presented in the research: (i) preventing threats and nuisances from pets, (ii) meeting pets' emotional and physical needs, (iii) procuring pets ethically, (iv) providing pets with veterinary services and (v) licensing and identifying pets.

Join the webinar - Pets, People and Urban Places - on January 26th to learn more about Rock’s research and how it can inform policies that could lead to better lives for people, pets and wildlife in cities.

HEALTH - Regulation of Antimicrobial Use by Canadian Veterinarians

A recently closed public consultation held by the Government of Canada is leading the country one step closer to addressing concerns surrounding the problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) related to veterinary drugs.

Duane Landals of Veterinarians Without Borders has a lifetime of experience in the profession and is heavily involved with helping to devise a national strategy to address AMR concerns.

In addition to managing a clinical practice, Landals' background includes 15 years as registrar and CEO of the Alberta Veterinary Medical Association, as well as president of both the Alberta and Canadian Veterinary Medical Association and as vice president of the World Veterinary Association for two terms.

“I’m totally involved with the AMR picture…it’s a very visible, global issue,” he said.

“But to address AMR, we have to look at antimicrobial use.”

In dealing with the absence of regulation of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) used in manufactured drugs and the human use of antimicrobials in animals without veterinary oversight, Health Canada initiated the public consultations that would lead to proposed regulatory changes seeking to address the growing problem of AMR in human and veterinary medicine.

The proposed changes, which are welcomed by the veterinary industry as a whole, include:

• requirement that APIs imported or sold in Canada must adhere to Good Manufacturing Practices (currently they do not)
• required licensing for those who import, test, label, fabricate or package APIs
• restriction of own use importation of unauthorized veterinary drugs
• requirement that manufacturers, importers and compounders of veterinary antimicrobials provide sales volume information by species
• and introduction of an alternative, less burdensome pathway for manufacturers to legally import and sell certain low-risk veterinary drugs, known as veterinary health products (VHPs).
  
  

The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association welcomes the changes.

“We have a long history of antimicrobial use in food-producing animals,” said Landals, adding that under the new changes this would be required to be overseen by a veterinarian and would be on an as-needed basis or by prescription – a change that is also in response to public demand for food free from hormones, met with the ‘Raised with Care’ public education campaign.

Every antibiotic will become prescription-only under the new regulation, much like the Veterinary Feed Directive being implemented in the U.S. as of January 2017.

“The culture of how we use antibiotics is changing,” said Landals, making reference to the health and safety of the public. “There should be no surprise.”

Landals said one of the biggest challenges is in the development of a national policy that would lead to provincial policy changes, emphasizing “there is a disconnect” between the national and provincial levels, that working groups are trying to address.

“The biggest thing is that we need consistencies between provinces,” he said, stressing that the United Nations now refers to AMR as a “world global crisis”.

Landals said he does not believe the impact will be felt on companion animal owners.

By Lindsay Seewalt

Lindsay is an experienced journalist and mother of three whose heart and home is always open to a four-legged friend. With her Corgi, Angie, as household editor-in-chief, Lindsay gives back to the animal planet through the written word on anything and all ado about pets. She is passionate about topics regarding animal welfare and responsible pet ownership, which she aims to instill in both her readers and children to be compassionate animal lovers who are conscious and considerate that furry friends around the globe deserve a voice.

HEALTH & BUSINESS - Understanding the Bee Crisis

Seven species of Hawaiian yellow-faced or masked bees have been added to the US endangered and threatened species list.

(John Kaia, AP)

This marks the first time that a bee has been added to the list, although the US Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed that the Rusty Patched bumble bee be added.

Bees are among the world’s most important pollinators, with a global pollination value of billions of dollars per year. In the US alone, honey bees pollinate $15 billion worth of crops annually.

Honey bees are the group most commonly referenced when discussing the bee crisis – the rapid decline in bee populations in North America and globally.

When “colony collapse disorder” is referenced, it is usually in a discussion of domesticated bees in managed and cultivated colonies.

But it’s not honey bees that are at greatest risk.

Rather, it is wild bees that are most at risk. Bees like the yellow-faced bees who have made it onto the endangered species list, or the 50 percent of Midwestern native bee species that have disappeared in the last 100 years.

According to EcoWatch, “Yellow-faced bees are the most important pollinators for many key trees and shrubs in Hawaii.”

Wild bees are also endangered globally.

In Europe, the Red List of Bees project determined that 9% of bee species in Europe are facing potential extinction, 5% are likely to be threatened with extinction in the near future, and over half of the wild bee species in Europe were determined to be “data deficient,” meaning that it is impossible to know their extinction risk without further study.

In England alone, two species of Bumble bee have gone extinct since 1941, and two other species are in steep decline.

The loss of wild bees in China has already forced farmers to hand-pollinate apple and pear orchards.

And although it is much more challenging to find solid information about the state of wild pollinators in previously colonized countries, it does appear that wild pollinators, including bees, have also been struggling in India, where vegetable farmers have felt the loss most keenly.

However, despite the continued decline in bee populations, all hope is not lost.

Humans are the greatest threat to bees – agricultural practices have changed, resulting in extreme losses of habitat and introducing new threats to colony health – but human practices can change again.

In fact, the agricultural practices that are likely contributing to such steep declines in bee populations in North America and Europe are not as prevalent in East Africa, where honey bees face similar pests and infections and yet remain healthy.

Kenyan beekeeping practices don’t include the commercial production of queen bees. Instead, new hives are started when a healthy hive naturally splits in two. The genetic variation may be a big part of their increased resilience. 

Individuals can also help support wild bee populations wherever they live.

Gardening with native flowering plants is one of the best ways to reintroduce bee-friendly habitats, and it’s something that any individual can do.

For more information, the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation has a thorough resource guide for concerned citizens.

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.

HEALTH - Veterinary Feed Directive to Control Antibiotic Use

Farmers in many fields – raising everything from cattle to chickens and even bees – are anxious to see how a new federal feed directive will impact operations.

Set to take effect January 1, 2017, the rules will make it more difficult to get antibiotics for livestock but at the same time offer veterinary supervision to hopefully limit the amount consumed by humans.

“Essentially, the directive is an attempt by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reduce the amount of antibiotics fed to animals that could potentially end up in the human food supply,” a Utah-based Daily Herald article states.

All producers raising animals for human consumption regardless of operation size must comply.

The rules will also require a relationship to be forged between livestock producers and vets when it comes to acquiring medicated food used to treat animals for illnesses including pneumonia and mastitis (an inflammation of the mammary glands which can lead to infection and see a reduction in milk production) the Herald states.

Many in the industry are scrambling to ensure those affected will be prepared when the rules take effect and not blind-sided when looking to access antibiotics for animals.

The new regulations also mean medicated feed can no longer be used to create weight gain but only for medicinal purposes – disease prevention and control.

Currently, livestock owners can get medicated food directly from a feed store but next year it will no longer be legal for them to sell medicated feed without a written directive from a vet.

Some fear that mandating an order be written by a veterinarian will be cumbersome and cause delays, of several days, in the process of getting medication to an animal.

Growing pains are anticipated.

“Most veterinarians aren’t accustomed to the dosages and feeding rates and feeding lengths of time, so there’s going to be a little bit of struggle with that,” Marty Short, general manager of the North Region Feed Mill told the Daily Herald.

According to the Centers for Disease Control at least two million people in the U.S are infected annually by bacteria resistant to antibiotic treatment and more than 20,000 die from these infections.

The major push behind the directive is “to mandate judicious antibiotic use in livestock to reduce the risk of antibiotic resistant bacteria.”

And there appears to be an appetite among would-be consumers to make meat antibiotic free.

A & W, for instance, heavily advertises the fact they no longer have antibiotics (nor hormones or preservatives) in their beef.

While the amount and type of hormones used in meat is closely regulated by Health Canada and the U.S Food and Drug Administration, the issue of antibiotics in farm animals' food supply has been one leading to warnings from health officials both sides of the border.

Canadian officials and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control caution the “growing use of antibiotics in farm animals' food supply is worsening the problem of antimicrobial resistance – the phenomenon of bacteria becoming immune to antibiotics,” a Huffington Post article stated.

Short says, ideally the directive will shed a positive light on the industry in the eyes of consumers.

“The whole process can be a positive for us in improving consumer perception,” he told the Daily Herald.

“Even though most of us feel these things have been judiciously used in most cases, consumers do see a need for it and we need to respond to consumer concerns and we need to take this seriously and do the best we can to comply with these rules.”

Of course, there are glitches yet to be worked out as the directive is rolled out.

Utah beekeepers, for instance, could see operations complicated given most veterinarians – required to write the directives – do not prescribe to bees, David Wilson, a dairy extension veterinarian at Utah State University told the Daily Herald.

“In order to get the antibiotic-medicated cakes, somebody's going to have to become the bee vet,” he said.

Many argue that large-scale meat production relies on antibiotics to keep animals healthy and, according to a CBS report, some studies suggest the risk to humans consuming animals who have been treated with antibiotics is extremely low.

Others contend the “overuse of antibiotics in humans – not animals – (is) causing a rise in drug-resistant bacteria,” and a 2004 study showed “the likelihood that antibiotic would not work in a human due to animal use at 1 in 82 million.”

“The problem is not an animal or human issue per se,” Dr. Tom Chiller with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told CBS.

“It's about using the antibiotics as judiciously as we possibly can in situations where they are needed.”

By Nadia Moharib

Nadia is an animal lover who has adopted everything from birds to hamsters, salamanders, rabbits, fish and felines. She has written about all-things-pets for years and was a long-time editor of a pet magazine in a daily newspaper which featured a Q & A column, Ask Whit, penned by her pooch (ghost written, of course.) The serial dog owner lives in Calgary, Alberta and most days can be found at a dog park picking up after her rescue pooch, Scoots.

HEALTH - Global Rabies Control Efforts Continue

An all-time favourite of many is the classic movie Old Yeller, a story about a boy and stray dog set in post-Civil War Texas.

It is a tale about love, childhood adventures, and family and is a challenge to watch and not shed at least one tear.

Because the dog gets stricken with rabies.

Rabies is often associated with dogs, but it affects many different types of mammals and can be transferred to humans quite easily.

September 28th is World Rabies Day, a day dedicated to raising awareness about rabies and improving global prevention and control efforts.

September 28th also marks the anniversary of Louis Pasteur's death, the French chemist and microbiologist who developed the first rabies vaccine.

Rabies is a viral disease that is transmitted through the saliva or tissues from the nervous system of an infected mammal to another mammal, usually through a bite.

Typical incubation is three to eight weeks, and once symptoms appear rabies is almost always fatal.

Knowledge about rabies is important even if you are not a pet owner.

Recently an Alberta woman was bitten by a bat hiding in the back seat of her car. Fortunately, she decided to get it checked out - the bat turned out to be rabid.

Because rabies can affect wildlife, anyone who spends time outdoors or has children that do, should be aware of the disease.

Each year around the world, rabies results in more than 59,000 deaths – that is nearly one death every nine minutes.

Up to 60% of all rabies deaths are children under the age of 15.

Despite its almost 100% case fatality rate, canine rabies is completely preventable with modern vaccines. Nobody needs to die of rabies.

What can you do?

1. Take Pets to a Veterinarian for Their Rabies Shot

Regular vet checks and up-to-date vaccinations are key.

2. Stay away of unfamiliar/stray animals and wildlife.

One of the best ways to protect yourself and your family is to avoid contact with wild animals. More than 90% of all animal rabies cases reported to CDC each year occur in wild animals. The main animals that get rabies include raccoons, bats, skunks and foxes.

3. Stay Rabies Free In and Around Your Home

No matter where you live, there are steps you can take to keep wild or stray, rabid animals away.  Simple things like not putting food out or covering up your garbage cans can make a big difference.

For more on protection and prevention visit the Centers for Disease Control website.

Even though there have been great strides controlling rabies it is important to continue the effort.

Take part in this year’s World Rabies Day - look for events in your area that provide an opportunity to celebrate World Rabies Day and get the facts on rabies prevention and control.

By Cori Imbery
Cori is an animal lover and marketing consultant with over 15 years’ experience developing and enhancing in market activities. She brings to the table a 360-degree view that highlights different perspectives and opens minds to possibilities. She is also an artist and creates ultra-realistic pieces in graphite, pastel pencils and acrylics, but loves to play and experiment depending on what the vision calls for.