In extension of my previous article on the subject matter, further, it is elaborated that when preparing for zoonotic outbreaks, a joint approach involving animal health and other sectors is necessary for these essential operations. For example, vaccination programs and health promotion campaigns can prevent infection spread within human and animal populations. Training and exercises are valuable for testing plans, identify-ing weaknesses and building relationships with counterparts in animal and environ-mental health.
One challenge in preparedness is convincing people to invest in it. Competing priori-ties can push preparedness down the agenda, but this is a false economy. Without adequate preparation, an effective response is nearly impossible.
The alert phase involves early warning through surveillance and monitoring. Signals may come from various sources, such as professional networks, unusual trends in health indicators, social media reports, or communications from animal or environ-mental health colleagues. Joint investigations and risk assessments help determine whether there is cause for concern. Depending on the findings, communication cam-paigns can be launched, and stakeholders alerted to imminent threats. Coordination between human, animal, and environmental health is critical, especially in suspected zoonotic outbreaks.The response phase requires a joint approach to assess risk, confirm the outbreak, and mobilize resources for a coordinated response. This phase builds on the ground-work laid during preparedness and alert phases. Despite the best prevention and pre-paredness efforts, zoonotic disease outbreaks can and will occur. The response phase involves activating multi-sectoral structures, increasing resources, intensifying sur-veillance, engaging the public through communication campaigns, and supporting pa-tient management and infection control. Close collaboration with colleagues in other sectors is essential to ensure a comprehensive response.
Flexibility and agility are vital during the response phase, as outbreaks often bring unexpected challenges. The ability to adapt to unplanned situations is part of the One Health mindset.
After the intensity of the response phase, it’s tempting to relax, but the recovery phase is just as important. This phase involves reflecting on what was learned during the outbreak, evaluating the effectiveness of contingency plans, and identifying sur-prises and gaps in planning. It’s crucial to have open discussions with colleagues from all sectors to improve future outbreak responses. Documenting these lessons and re-vising strategies and plans for disease prevention and control are essential steps to avoid repeating mistakes in the future.
At the end of the recovery phase, the cycle returns to preparedness. This time, the preparedness phase should incorporate the lessons learned during the outbreak. While we’ve discussed the ideal scenario of animal, environmental, and human health sec-tors working together, reality is more challenging. Engaging stakeholders during the preparedness phase can be difficult without an ongoing outbreak, as the sense of ur-gency may be lacking. Additionally, siloed working, with separate budgets and priori-ties, can create challenges across all phases, from alert to recovery.
Siloed working can compromise the alert phase, where information may not be ade-quately shared or misinterpreted between sectors. For example, veterinary public health is a significant part of veterinary training, but human health workers may not fully appreciate zoonotic threats. Clear and well-constructed risk assessments are es-sential for shared surveillance outputs, but they require time and effort to produce.
During the response phase, the large number of stakeholders involved can lead to con-fusion and chaos. Clear lines of command and communication are necessary, but the fast-paced nature of outbreaks makes it difficult to stay on top of developments. Dif-ferent sectors may also have conflicting priorities. For instance, animal health authori-ties might prioritize trade and economic impacts, while public health colleagues focus on disease cases. This can create tension over what information to share and when. The recovery phase can also be affected by differing perspectives among sectors. What worked well for one sector may have been problematic for another. Honest and open discussions are necessary to respect and appreciate each other’s viewpoints, even if consensus is not always achievable.
Many of these challenges can be mitigated by building trusting relationships with One Health colleagues over time, rather than in the midst of an emergency. However, not all colleagues may be trained in the One Health mindset, which can become a barrier to multisectoral collaboration. Therefore, it’s essential to promote One Health aware-ness and training among human health colleagues to improve future responses.portation in the country.
—The writer is contributing columnist, based in Islamabad
