Preventing the next outbreak
After the avian influenza virus, popularly known as bird flu, first broke out from Biman Poultry Complex in Dhaka's Savar on March 15, 2007, over 16 lakh chickens, raised in commercial farms across the country, died during the following year.
Due to the virus's spread, hundreds of poultry farms in 47 districts were shut down, causing unemployment and losses of around Tk 4,500 crore, according to different estimates.
The disease is one of 41 prioritised emerging and re-emerging zoonotic diseases in the country, according to 2018 data of the US Center for Disease Control.
Zoonotic diseases are naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans. They are caused by harmful germs like viruses, bacteria, parasites, and fungi.
The zoonotic diseases that have been detected in the country so far include dengue, chikungunya, Zika, Nipah, swine flu, anthrax, rabies, HIV, and Covid-19, the latest example of a global public health emergency.
"Although zoonotic diseases do not cause problems frequently, they can cause epidemics. So there is no alternative to surveillance," said Dr Sukanta Chowdhury, associate scientist of emerging infections at icddr,b's Infectious Diseases Division.
To tackle this, public health experts recommended prompt implementation of the "One Health" approach -- which recognises that human health is closely connected to the health of animals and the shared environment.
According to the World Health Organization, One Health is an approach to designing and implementing programmes, policies, legislation and research in a manner in which multiple sectors communicate and work together to achieve better public health outcomes.
"A disease prevalent in animals today can transfer to humans tomorrow. So, health management must be arranged under the One Health approach," Prof Dr Nitish Chandra Debnath, national coordinator of One Health Secretariat in Bangladesh, told The Daily Star.
Prof Debnath, also one of the 26 members of One Health High Level Expert Panel, said the massive increase in population, super-fast urbanisation and climate change are causing the emergence of new and old diseases that can be transmitted between animals and humans.
The panel was launched by the Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health, the United Nations Environment Programme and WHO.
ONE HEALTH APPROACH: THE WAY OUT
The One Health approach can not only help tackle zoonotic diseases, but different kinds of public health threats, including antibiotic resistance, vector-borne diseases, food safety and security, chronic diseases, and mental health issues as well, according to experts.
Describing the approach's significance, Prof Debnath said, "One Health is not a new concept, but it has become more important in recent years, because many factors have changed interactions between people, animals, and our environment."
"Due to our huge population, the approach has a special significance for Bangladesh," he added.
In 2008, One Health activities started in Bangladesh, with a goal to effectively coordinate among all government, private, and international stakeholders.
The One Health Secretariat is located at the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research in Dhaka. It has been operating as per the Strategic Framework and Action Plan for the Application of a One Health Approach in Bangladesh (2017 – 2021).
Through its operations, around 12 research laboratories have been brought under a surveillance network.
COORDINATION A BIG CHALLENGE
Despite Bangladesh being among the few countries that started One Health activities in the early days, there is a long way to go, officials said.
They said more integrated surveillance infrastructure and monitoring of infectious diseases in both humans and animals are urgent matters to address to detect new infectious agents.
"It is a challenging task, because we all have a habit of staying within our own silos. It has been practised for decades that different sectors -- health, animal, environment and others -- will work separately. Collaboration is a big challenge," Prof Debnath said.
According to him, there are other issues too, which include the lack of infrastructure and skilled human resources.
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