Optimizing surveillance for livestock disease spreading through animal movements

The spatial propagation of many livestock infectious diseases critically depends on the animal movements among premises; so the knowledge of movement data may help us to detect, manage and control an outbreak. The identification of robust spreading features of the system is however hampered by the temporal dimension characterizing population interactions through movements. Traditional centrality measures do not provide relevant information as results strongly fluctuate in time and outbreak properties heavily depend on geotemporal initial conditions. By focusing on the case study of cattle displacements in Italy, we aim at characterizing livestock epidemics in terms of robust features useful for planning and control, to deal with temporal fluctuations, sensitivity to initial conditions and missing information during an outbreak. Through spatial disease simulations, we detect spreading paths that are stable across different initial conditions, allowing the clustering of the seeds and reducing the epidemic variability. Paths also allow us to identify premises, called sentinels, having a large probability of being infected and providing critical information on the outbreak origin, as encoded in the clusters. This novel procedure provides a general framework that can be applied to specific diseases, for aiding risk assessment analysis and informing the design of optimal surveillance systems.Comment: Supplementary Information at https://sites.google.com/site/paolobajardi/Home/archive/optimizing_surveillance_ESM_l.pdf?attredirects=

General Objectives and Methods in HIV/AIDS Surveillance

Preventing transmission of virus is still the single intervention known as effective in limiting the spread of HIV infection. So, the epidemiological surveillance of HIV/AIDS is an important tool used by public health specialists in controlling epidemics. Epidemiological surveillance is a continuous process of collecting, analysing, interpreting and disseminating data in order to plan, implement and assess public health interventions. The objectives of HIV/AIDS surveillance should be specific, measurable, transformed into actions, realistic, planned to be done in due time. The main methods used by HIV/AIDS surveillance in collecting the data are biological surveillance, behavioural surveillance, other sources of information. The main indicators recommended for any HIV/AIDS programme components include the fields of politics, condoms availability and quality, social stigmatus & discrimination, knowledge, vertical transmission, sex negotiation and attitude, sexual behaviour, especially in youngsters, injection with drugs, safe blood and derivatives, STI treatment and prevention, care and social support, social & health impact. Data collected by public health surveillance systems guide the responses to the events, measure and monitor the burden of the disease, assess public health politics, etc.. Integrated approach in epidemiological surveillance takes into account, generally, the integration of all activities that have to do with epidemiological surveillance into a single service with multiple functions using the same structures, procedures and personnel. Second generation HIV/AIDS surveillance is a WHO concept developped on modular systems. The metodology in risk behaviour surveillance studies includes: justifying, behavioural risk, methods for collecting data, behavioural data value, steps in organizing behavioural surveillance studies

Economics of Robust Surveillance on Exotic Animal Diseases: the Case of Bluetongue

Control of emerging animal diseases critically depends on their early detection. However, designing surveillance programs for exotic and emerging diseases is very challenging because of knowledge gaps on the probability of incursion and mechanisms of spread. Using the example of Bluetongue Virus, which is exotic to the UK, we develop a metapopulation epidemic-economic modelling framework that considers the incursion, detection, spread and control of a disease in a livestock production system composed of heterogeneous subpopulations. The model is then embedded in an information gap (info-gap) framework to assess the robustness of surveillance and vaccination policies to unacceptable outbreaks losses and applied to the case of Bluetongue in the UK. The results show that active reporting of suspect clinical signs by farmers is a very robust way to reduce unacceptable outcomes. Vaccination of animals in high risk regions led to robustly protective programs. If vaccines are not available, surveillance targeted to the high risk region is very robust even if the extent of the high risk region is not known and effectiveness of detection is very low. Surveillance programs focusing in all regions with the same intensity are in general not robust unless the dispersal of the vector connecting both regions is very high.compartmental epidemic model, emergent animal disease, Knightian uncertainty, sentinel surveillance system, Livestock Production/Industries,

The effect of distance on observed mortality, childhood pneumonia and vaccine efficacy in rural Gambia.

We investigated whether straight-line distance from residential compounds to healthcare facilities influenced mortality, the incidence of pneumonia and vaccine efficacy against pneumonia in rural Gambia. Clinical surveillance for pneumonia was conducted on 6938 children living in the catchment areas of the two largest healthcare facilities. Deaths were monitored by three-monthly home visits. Children living >5 km from the two largest healthcare facilities had a 2·78 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1·74-4·43] times higher risk of all-cause mortality compared to children living within 2 km of these facilities. The observed rate of clinical and radiological pneumonia was lower in children living >5 km from these facilities compared to those living within 2 km [rate ratios 0·65 (95% CI 0·57-0·73) and 0·74 (95% CI 0·55-0·98), respectively]. There was no association between distance and estimated pneumococcal vaccine efficacy. Geographical access to healthcare services is an important determinant of survival and pneumonia in children in rural Gambia

INFLUENCE OF DISEASE SURVEILLANCE AND NOTIFICATION SYSTEMS ON EPIDEMIC CONTROL IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS OF OSUN STATE

The study was to contribute to finding solutions to problems associated with disease surveillance and notification systems in relation to epidemic control in local government areas of Osun State. Survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study was three hundred and six (306) medical and health officers in the 30 local government areas of Osun State. Total enumeration technique was used to cover all the 306 health care professionals in the 30 local government areas. A validated questionnaire was used for data collection with response rate of 93.1% and data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that positive and significant relationship exists between disease surveillance and notification systems and epidemic control (Df = 283, N = 285, r = .732**, p \u3c 0.05). It implies that a unit increase in disease surveillance and notification systems will increase the tendency for epidemic control activities in the studied area. The study recommended that State government and the management of LGAs via ministry of health should ensure constant implementation of various strategies that are very essential to an effective epidemic control intervention. State and LGAs should provide logistics and materials to facilitate timely collection, processing, storage, analysis, dissemination and the use of surveillance information as well as adequate financing of its essential sub-systems and components among others

General Objectives and Methods in HIV/AIDS Surveillance

Preventing transmission of virus is still the single intervention known as effective in limiting the spread of HIV infection. So, the epidemiological surveillance of HIV/AIDS is an important tool used by public health specialists in controlling epidemics. Epidemiological surveillance is a continuous process of collecting, analysing, interpreting and disseminating data in order to plan, implement and assess public health interventions. The objectives of HIV/AIDS surveillance should be specific, measurable, transformed into actions, realistic, planned to be done in due time. The main methods used by HIV/AIDS surveillance in collecting the data are biological surveillance, behavioural surveillance, other sources of information. The main indicators recommended for any HIV/AIDS programme components include the fields of politics, condoms availability and quality, social stigmatus & discrimination, knowledge, vertical transmission, sex negotiation and attitude, sexual behaviour, especially in youngsters, injection with drugs, safe blood and derivatives, STI treatment and prevention, care and social support, social & health impact. Data collected by public health surveillance systems guide the responses to the events, measure and monitor the burden of the disease, assess public health politics, etc.. Integrated approach in epidemiological surveillance takes into account, generally, the integration of all activities that have to do with epidemiological surveillance into a single service with multiple functions using the same structures, procedures and personnel. Second generation HIV/AIDS surveillance is a WHO concept developped on modular systems. The metodology in risk behaviour surveillance studies includes: justifying, behavioural risk, methods for collecting data, behavioural data value, steps in organizing behavioural surveillance studies

Access to HIV Prevention: Closing the Gap

Provides a region-by-region analysis of intervention gaps, examines current spending levels versus projected need, and recommends funding and programmatic activities to avert 29 million of the 45 million new HIV infections projected between 2002 and 2010

Operational study "Identifying criteria of effectiveness and comparative analysis of projects aimed at HIV prevention among high-risk groups by sub-grantees of the International HIV/AIDS Alliance in Ukraine" : Final report

Study tasks To overview effects of four components of project work with vulnerable groups: 1. Work with injection drug users 2. Work with female sex workers 3. Community center 4. Voluntary counseling and testingДослідження стосувалося оцінювання ефектів чотирьох компонентів роботи проектів з групами підвищеного ризику: 1. Робота зі споживачами ін’єкційних наркотиків 2. Робота з жінками комерційного сексу 3. Громадські центри 4. Добровільне консультування та тестуванн

Disease Surveillance Networks Initiative Asia: Final Evaluation

The DSN Initiative was launched in 2007 under the new strategy of the Rockefeller Foundation. The initiative intends:[1] To improve human resources for disease surveillance in developing countries, thus bolstering national capacity to monitor, report, and respond to outbreaks;[2] To support regional networks to promote collaboration in disease surveillance and response across countries; and[3] To build bridges between regional and global monitoring effortsThe purpose of the DSN evaluation in the Mekong region was twofold:[1]To inform the work and strategy of the Foundation, its grantees, and the broader field of disease surveillance, based on the experience of DSN investments in the Mekong region. More specifically, the evaluation will inform future directions and strategies for current areas of DSN Initiative work, particularly in Asia, and will highlight potential new areas of work and strategy; and[2] To provide accountability to the Rockefeller Foundation's board, staff, and stakeholders for the DSN funds spent in the Mekong region