ONE HEALTH NEXUS: June 2024

TOPICS: Disease Surveillance + Advancing One Health

Combating an Emerging Crisis: H5N1 Influenza and the Need for a One Health approach for Prevention and Response

In response to the growing number of cases of H5N1 Influenza that have appeared in wildlife, poultry, dairy cattle, and now humans, Grand Challenges and the School of Veterinary Medicine at UC Davis teamed up to host an “Emergency One Health Consultation on Combating H5N1 Influenza”, featuring experts from UC Davis and other US universities engaged in prevention and response, global experts, and the lead US Government Agencies in charge of this animal and public health emergency. Marcela Uhart, an Argentinian veterinarian and director of the Latin American Program at the Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center at UC Davis, opened the event with a somber depiction of H5N1 Influenza’s impact on wildlife in South America: hundreds of thousands of deaths occurring across numerous species, from marine mammals to birds. In one colony of elephant seals, nearly 95% of the seal pups – some 17,000 individuals – died during the H5N1 outbreak. For threatened or endangered species, H5N1 Influenza is adding another layer to their extinction vulnerability. The Peruvian Pelican, for instance, is endangered and lost 36% of its population during the outbreak, according to Uhart, and now the domestic threat is growing as cases are detected in wildlife, poultry, and dairy herds in the US, as well as in dairy workers, a vulnerable and extremely at risk group for virus transmission.

How is the US responding to this crisis? Learn more HERE.

Visit the Grand Challenges H5N1 Influenza Information & Resource Page HERE.

Highlights

• OHI’s Marcy Uhart kick’s off the UC Davis Institute for Pandemic Intelligence Speaker Series with a sobering peek into the impacts of H5N1 Influenza on wildlife populations in South America and Antarctica. Watch the webinar HERE.
• The California Raptor Center is working with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's California Condor Recovery Program during the ongoing HPAI response in whatever capacity necessary – from antiviral medication concentrations to helping to provide clean food so that the condors don't risk consuming a dead animal that might have been infected with HPAI. Learn more HERE.
• Are we prepared? UC Davis Grand Challenges released a Road Map for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, setting recommendations for a coordinated One Health approach to address health emergencies.

Aggies in One Health

Marcela Uhart, DVM

Marcela Uhart, is an Argentinian veterinarian and Director of the Latin America Program?at the?Karen C. Drayer Wildlife Health Center. Her research spans across a variety of topics, including: infectious and parasitic diseases, zoonotic pathogens, pollutants (e.g. plastics), biotoxins, antimicrobial resistance, physiology, ecology, and health risks from human interactions. Uhart’s research aims for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem health under a One Health approach that acknowledges the interconnections between wildlife, humans and the environment.

Q&A with Dr. Uhart

In the Media

• The Bird Flu Virus Adapted to Sea Animals. It May Not Be Done Yet. (The New York Times)
• H5N1 is Increasingly Adapting to Mammals (UC Davis)
• California Wildlife is Vulnerable to an Avian Apocalypse (Los Angeles Times)
• How Big a Threat is Bird Flu? (Scientific American - Science Quickly Podcast)
• Why the New Human Case of Bird Flu is so Alarming (The New York Times)

ADDITIONAL STORIES

H5N1 Experts

• Marcela Uhart, DVM
• Christine Kreuder Johnson, VMD, MPVM, PhD
• Michelle Hawkins, VMD, DABVP (Avian Practice)
• Deana Clifford, DVM, MPVM, PhD

FULL LIST

Upcoming Events

• Rx One Health Field Institute: June 23-July 7 (LEARN MORE)
• One Health Brown Bag Talk ft. Agostina Tammone: July 16
• One Health Symposium: October 19 (LEARN MORE)

Support Marcela Uhart's Latin America Program

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