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Building the road to a regional zoonoses strategy: a survey of zoonoses programs in the Americas

Maxwell, Melody J
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2475-781X
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1460630934

Abstract Details

2016, Master of Public Health, Ohio State University, Public Health.
Introduction and Purpose: In recent years, global public health security has been threatened by a number of emerging zoonotic diseases including H5N1 and H1N1 influenza, SARS/MERS, and Ebola. Additionally, endemic zoonoses, such as rabies, burden countries year after year, placing demands on limited finances and personnel. Due to this resource limitation, prioritization exercises are important to focusing zoonoses control and eradication efforts in developing countries, such as those in Latin American and the Caribbean. To learn more about the prioritization processes of Latin American and Caribbean countries (LACs), a survey was conducted which collected information on priority emerging and endemic zoonoses, countries' prioritization criteria and methodologies, and suggestions to strengthen countries’ capacities and the regional approach to zoonoses control. Methods: The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) sent the online questionnaire to the zoonoses program managers of the Ministries of Health (MOH) and Ministries of Agriculture (MAg) of 33 LACs from January to April of 2015. The questionnaire comprised 36 single, multiple choice and open-ended questions to inform the objectives of the survey. A descriptive exploratory analysis was completed in R (i386 3.1.2). Findings: Fifty-four ministries (26 MOH, 25 MAg, and 3 combined responses) in 31 LAC countries responded to the survey. Within these 31 countries, 22 (85%) had specialized zoonoses units in the MOHs, 5 (20%) in the MAgs, and 2 (67%) had a specialized zoonoses unit in a combined entity. Thirty-two ministries responded that they conduct formal prioritization exercises for endemic zoonoses, most of them annually (69%). The three priority endemic zoonoses for the MOHs were leptospirosis, rabies, and brucellosis while the three priorities for the MAgs were brucellosis, rabies, and tuberculosis. Diagnosis for rabies and leptospirosis were cited as the capacities most in need of development. The most wanting cross-cutting capacity was coordination between stakeholders. Twenty-eight ministries performed formal prioritization exercises for emerging zoonoses. The three priority emerging zoonoses for the MOHs were Ebola, avian influenza, and Chikungunya while the three priorities for the MAgs were avian influenza, bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and West Nile virus. Surveillance for avian influenza and Ebola, and diagnosis for BSE were cited as the capacities most wanting. Implications: The survey is the first comprehensive effort to date to inform the status of zoonoses programs in LAC, and provides the evidence to build a regional strategy and identify capacity needs. A number of improvements appear evident: i) standardization of prioritization approaches, surveillance definitions and evaluation processes to support comparisons, ii) greater communication and coordination between countries, and iii) a platform to inform zoonoses occurrence in the region and the status of the region's capacities.
Armando Hoet (Advisor)
Rebecca Garabed (Committee Member)
Susan Olivo-Marston (Committee Member)
66 p.
Public Health; Public Policy; Veterinary Services
zoonosis, zoonoses, prioritization, priorities, Latin America, Caribbean, South America,

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Maxwell, M. J. (2016). Building the road to a regional zoonoses strategy: a survey of zoonoses programs in the Americas [Master's thesis, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1460630934

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Maxwell, Melody. Building the road to a regional zoonoses strategy: a survey of zoonoses programs in the Americas. 2016. Ohio State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1460630934.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Maxwell, Melody. "Building the road to a regional zoonoses strategy: a survey of zoonoses programs in the Americas." Master's thesis, Ohio State University, 2016. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1460630934

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1460630934
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.