Disease Outbreaks and Agricultural Trade: The Case of Potatoes

This study analyzed the impact of PVYn and potato wart disease outbreaks in PEI on the potato industry. These disease outbreaks resulted in the loss of the US seed export market to PEI producers. The effects of the disease outbreaks were mitigated through value-added processing. Price premiums for processed potatoes allowed PEI potato producers to abandon seed exports without incurring losses. Evidence is presented to suggest that other countries have also used this approach when export restrictions were placed on domestic agricultural industries. Policy response to the two disease outbreaks include: i) development of a zones policy that helped to reopen markets into the US; and ii) financial compensation to producers above the minimum levels required under the Seeds Act and Regulations. Implementation of the zones policy had beneficial impacts on the potato industry and is mirrored in other disease outbreaks. In contrast, compensation above minimum requirements may set a costly precedent for future disease outbreaks and may have caused moral hazard problems.disease, trade, potatoes, Canada, food, safety, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, International Relations/Trade,

Early warning signals in plant disease outbreaks

Infectious disease outbreaks in plants threaten ecosystems, agricultural crops and food trade. Currently, several fungal diseases are affecting forests worldwide, posing a major risk to tree species, habitats and consequently ecosystem decay. Prediction and control of disease spread are difficult, mainly due to the complexity of the interaction between individual components involved. In this work, we introduce a lattice-based epidemic model coupled with a stochastic process that mimics, in a very simplified way, the interaction between the hosts and pathogen. We studied the disease spread by measuring the propagation velocity of the pathogen on the susceptible hosts. Our quantitative results indicate the occurrence of a critical transition between two stable phases: local confinement and an extended epiphytotic outbreak that depends on the density of the susceptible individuals. Quantitative predictions of epiphytotics are performed using the framework early-warning indicators for impending regime shifts, widely applied on dynamical systems. These signals forecast successfully the outcome of the critical shift between the two stable phases before the system enters the epiphytotic regime. Our study demonstrates that early-warning indicators could be useful for the prediction of forest disease epidemics through mathematical and computational models suited to more specific pathogen–host-environmental interactions. Our results may also be useful to identify a suitable planting density to slow down disease spread and in the future, design highly resilient forests

Foodborne disease outbreaks in Australia 2001-2009

BACKGROUND: Analysis of surveillance data from foodborne disease outbreaks can help identify high-risk aetiological agents, food vehicles and settings. This information may help prevent future illness by informing the development of public health policy

Economic Modeling of Livestock Disease Outbreaks

The paper surveys articles examining the economic impacts of a livestock disease outbreak and focuses on modeling issues. One set of papers considers setting an import barrier when there is a livestock disease risk. They show that the level of a risk-based import barrier is sensitive to the impact of disease on economic welfare. The remaining articles focus on estimates of the economic impacts. An outbreak is modeled in a U.S. agricultural sector model and shows the importance of lost exports and consumer response to the magnitude of losses. The final paper argues for de-composition of the welfare impacts. Lessons for future research include improved links to epidemiological research, improved inclusion of trade, extension to non-agricultural sectors, and knowledge of consumer response.Foot-and-mouth disease, Modeling, Trade, Livestock Production/Industries,

Protect Iowa Health, 2005

The Iowa Department of Public Health works with local, state and federal partners in developing plans and creating systems to increase the state’s ability to respond to bioterrorism, infectious disease outbreaks and other public health emergencies

Marburg disease outbreaks

On February 13, 2023, government officials in Equatorial Guinea declared an outbreak of Marburg disease. Ministry of Health staff initially reported one confirmed case and additional suspect cases in Ebebiyin, Kie-Ntem Province, in the northeast corner of the country. Information on the additional suspect cases is currently limited.CDC is providing assistance as requested and sent an initial team of six scientists with expertise in epidemiology, laboratory testing, and in Marburg disease to support local health officials in outbreak response activities. The team is assisting with case investigation, contact tracing, and laboratory training.Outbreak Update -- Known Cases and Outbreaks of Marburg Disease

The Governance of Disease Outbreaks

This edited volume is directed at experts in international law, practitioners in international institutions, and other experts who would like to familiarize themselves with the legal framework of infectious disease governance. Using the West African Ebola crisis as a case study, this book is part of a larger collaborative project on international health governance. Project partners are the Forschungsstätte der Evangelischen Studiengemeinschaft e.V. - Institute for Interdisciplinary Research and the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law (MPIL). The authors explain the context and substantive legal framework of the Ebola crisis, while also highlighting its human rights aspects, institutional law (such as the debate on the securitization of health), and the limits to a purely legal approach to the subject. The authors are experts in public international law, public health, political science, and anthropology. With contributions by: Elif Askin, Susan L. Erikson, André den Exter, Robert Frau, Wolfgang Hein, Bonnie Kaiser, Hunter Keys, Michael Marx, Edefe Ojomo, Ilja Richard Pavone, Mateja Steinbrück Platise, Christian R. Thauer, Leonie Vierck, Pedro A. Villarreal, A. Katarina Weilert. Der Sammelband richtet sich an ein Fachpublikum von Völkerrechtlern, Praktikern in internationalen Institutionen und anderen Experten, die sich mit den rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen der internationalen Governance ansteckender Krankheiten vertraut machen möchten. Fallbeispiel ist die Ebola-Krise in Westafrika. Der Band geht aus einem breiter angelegten Heidelberger Kooperationsprojekt zur „International Health Governance“ der Forschungsstätte der Evangelischen Studiengemeinschaft e.V. - Institut für interdisziplinäre Forschung (FEST) und des Max-Planck-Instituts für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (MPIL) hervor. Die Autoren beleuchten Kontext und materiellen Rechtsrahmen des Themas, auch unter Hervorhebung menschenrechtlicher Bezüge, institutionelles Recht („Gesundheit als Sicherheitsrisiko?“) sowie die Grenzen eines genuin rechtlichen Ansatzes. Die Autoren sind den Disziplinen Völkerrecht, Public Health, Politikwissenschaften und Anthropologie zuzuordnen. Mit Beiträgen von: Elif Askin, Susan L. Erikson, André den Exter, Robert Frau, Wolfgang Hein, Bonnie Kaiser, Hunter Keys, Michael Marx, Edefe Ojomo, Ilja Richard Pavone, Mateja Steinbrück Platise, Christian R. Thauer, Leonie Vierck, Pedro A. Villarreal, A. Katarina Weilert

Marburg disease outbreaks

On February 13, 2023, government officials in Equatorial Guinea declared an outbreak of Marburg disease. Ministry of Health staff initially reported one confirmed case and additional suspect cases in Ebebiyin, Kie-Ntem Province, in the northeast corner of the country. Information on the additional suspect cases is currently limited.CDC is providing assistance as requested and sent an initial team of six scientists with expertise in epidemiology, laboratory testing, and in Marburg disease to support local health officials in outbreak response activities. The team is assisting with case investigation, contact tracing, and laboratory training.Outbreak Update -- Known Cases and Outbreaks of Marburg Disease