Global Conference on Emergency Management

These scenarios are designed to facilitate strategic conversations about change and uncertainty, by exploring emerging issues just over the horizon. This session will seek to challenge the status quo and assumptions about the future of emergency management. Participant insights and ideas will be captured to outline potential future opportunities for policy, innovation and/or investment in emergency management capabilities to support adaptive capacity, and ensure the field remains fit for purpose moving into the future.

Speakers: Frederic Poudevigne, Jimmy Tickel, Meyir Zieka, Stephen Goldsmith, Food and Agriculture Organization for the United Nations, Institute for Infectious Animal Diseases, Wildlife Division, Forestry Commission, Federal Bureau of Investigations

A wide range of crimes can contribute to disease spread, whether accidentally or intentionally, among wildlife, livestock and domestic animals. During the workshop, we will exchange on the existing good practices and challenges to sharing information, establishing common procedures and coordinating joint responses, with a view to feed a roadmap to enhance collaboration between the two sectors in animal disease emergency management.

Emergencies are increasing in frequency, complexity and severity. As biological threats from nature or from deliberate release of biological agents increase, so the role of Veterinary Services is also set to increase. By showcasing innovative approaches to advocacy, partnerships and communications, this session prepares WOAH Delegates for the kind of work they are likely to be involved in during the months and years ahead – communicating with non-experts to make the case for investing in animal health and advocating to decision makers with the power to decide budgets.

The availability of competent veterinary workforce is critical to manage emergencies that threaten human, animal, and environment health and require collaboration across multiple disciplines, sectors, authorities. Competency-based training of the emergency veterinary workforce is essential to assure that all professionals involved master the necessary abilities. Therefore, the design of an appropriate competency-based framework, the development of quality resources for learning, and the achievement of a target audience based across all Regions are essential factors to improve capacities that may impact on prevention, preparedness, response and recovery performances of Veterinary Services.

Speakers: Daniel Donachie, Christine Uhlenhaut, Julio Carvalho, World Organization for Animal Health, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, Portuguese Army
A short presentation on how to get started with simulation exercises and to engage with interagency and public stakeholders will be given followed by a question and answer session to discuss specific opportunities for you and your organisation.

For example, a player must decide who to notify when a hunter finds a suspicious animal carcass in the forest, and where to place this card in relation to others already on the board.

Discussion and debate amongst players is key, for winning the game and thus stopping the outbreak, and also for building confidence in each participant to recognize their role in the chain of surveillance. The game hopes to increase the knowledge of VHF spill overs in communities living near or in national parks and forested areas.

Additionally, the game targets professionals working at the human-animal-environment interface, such as veterinarians and wildlife authorities, and students from animal and human health sectors. When individuals better understand their role in the surveillance systems, they feel more empowered to recognize and report animal diseases or unusual animal occurrences to the proper health authorities. Like the 150+ professionals before you, team up and fight the outbreak!

Lina Awada is a veterinary epidemiologist (DVM, MSc, PhD) working for the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). She has 12 years of experience in animal disease surveillance, reporting, epi-analysis and interpretation of information on animal health threats. She has contributed significantly to the management and modernisation of WOAH’s World Animal Health Information System (WAHIS) and is currently involved in WOAH’s data integration activities throughout the organisation. Her work helps to ensure that WOAH, its Members, and partners have a common view of animal health situations and activities based on the combination of relevant data sources to support decision making.

WOAH’s epidemic intelligence for decision making

Dr. Nick Thomson is a public health and human rights trained epidemiologist who spent 12 years working with Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in northern Thailand on a HIV and Drug Use research program based within the Research Institute for Health Sciences, Chiang Mai University. He is currently the senior health advisor for the Pacific Security College at the ANU and leads a program on Pandemics and National Security at the ANU’s National Security College. He was involved in countering vaccine disinformation efforts as part of the Northern Territory Government’s vaccine program across the COVID-19 vaccine roll out. Over the last two years he has worked with GI-TOC exploring the nexus of environmental crimes and biological threats across borders of the Mekong Region. Dr Thomson specialises in multi-agency approaches to the dual threat of transnational crime and emerging biological threats.

Disrupting Crime, Improving Disease Surveillance Across Borders in the Mekong – A case study

Dr. H. Morgan Scott is a veterinarian holding a PhD in epidemiology and with post-doctoral training in public health. A professor of epidemiology in the Department of Veterinary Pathobiology at Texas A&M University (USA), he applies epidemiological and ecological ‘One Health’ approaches to addressing complex research problems at the interface of animal agriculture and human health. He has authored and co-authored more than 150 peer-reviewed papers since 1998 and served as an advisor to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH, founded as OIE.

Assessing vulnerabilities for agro-crime and agro-terrorism

Annamaria Conte is a Statistician, leading the Statistics and GIS Unit of the National Reference Centre for Epidemiology of the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale dell’Abruzzo e del Molise “G. Caporale” in Italy.
Her research is focused on epidemiological analytical methods and spatial epidemiology of major animal infectious diseases, including zoonoses, and on the identification of factors influencing the spread and persistence of vector borne diseases. Recent interests are on the integration of remoted sensed data and deep learning methods to produce early warning systems for preventing and controlling, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases.

Earth Observation data in emergency preparedness

Maïna L’Azou Jackson is a Senior Scientist, Epidemiologist, for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations, (CEPI).
Maïna L’Azou has spent 18 years in the field of epidemiology in vaccine development and in public health on epidemic and pandemic prone diseases with clinical practice experience in hospitals.
She worked as a field epidemiologist for the French National Institute for Public Health where she worked on various surveillance programs and outbreak investigations in France.
Subsequently, she worked for the World Health Organization in the International Health Regulations Coordination Department, where she carried out several field missions to assess and strengthen national capacities for surveillance and response in Central Africa.
With her public health spirit, she moved to Vaccine Development with Sanofi Pasteur in 2011 and supported global vaccine programs for tropical and endemic diseases before joining CEPI in 2020 just before the pandemic

Spillover to Disease X: vaccine preparedness for the next pandemic threat

Dr. Primal Silva is a veterinarian and a scientist who has a PhD from the University of Sydney, Australia. He is currently the Chief Science Operating Officer, Canadian Food Inspection Agency responsible for providing strategic leadership and ensuring sound management of CFIA’s 13 laboratories. In 2016, he led the formation of the Biosafety Level 4 Zoonotic Laboratory Network (BSL4ZNet), a global alliance of government mandated organizations from five countries. He is also a contributing member to numerous committees at domestic and international levels including the World Organization for Animal Health and represents Canada as the Focal Point for OIE Reference Laboratories.

Innovations in diagnostics

Dr. Salama Almuhairi graduated from Sussex University, UK with a Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology. She is currently the manager of the HAZMAT Research and Development Department in The National Emergency Crisis and Disaster Management Authority of UAE and a member of the UAE National Biosecurity Scientific Advisory Committee. She is working on developing a national mechanism for integrating research as part of the emergency management cycle and developing a national research roadmap for emergency management. Before her current position, she was the director of the Veterinary Laboratories in Abu Dhabi Agriculture and Food Safety Authority. Contributed with other experts in developing a guidance for national veterinary services to support public health services with COVID-19, an initiative from the World Organisation of Animal Health (WOAH).

Engagement of the scientific community in emergency management

Veterinarian with more than 25 years of experience in the National Service of Fisheries and Aquaculture of Chile, as deputy director of Aquaculture and then as national director. She led the management of the ISA virus outbreak in the salmon industry, designing and implementing the aquaculture health management model. She was Vice Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture, being the first woman in this position. During her term, she promoted the gender equity law in fisheries and aquaculture.
She is currently the first vice-president of the Aquatic Animal Health Standards Commission of the World Organization for Animal Health (OMSA), member of the FAO working group on biosecurity in aquaculture (PMP/AB), and advisor to the WOAH Collaborating Center for Antimicrobial Use Management in Aquaculture (CASA).

Dr. Franck Berthe is currently the Senior Specialist and One Health Lead for The Pandemic Fund. This Fund, hosted by the World Bank, finances critical investments to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response capacities from national to global levels. Prior to this, Franck was working at the World Bank on public health issues across the agriculture, environment, water and public health sectors. He has authored or co-authored several Bank’s global analytical pieces on health security, food safety, antimicrobial resistance, and One Health. Before this, Franck was the Head of the Animal Health and Welfare Unit at the European Food Safety Authority (2007-2016), Canada Research Chair and Associate Professor at the Atlantic Veterinary College (2004-2007), and lead research scientist at IFREMER (1994-2004). He has served as an expert for WOAH from 1996 to 2020 on various specialized Commissions and ad hoc groups. Franck has a Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine (DVM), a PhD in molecular biology, and a Pasteur Institute diploma in bacteriology.

Anja Boshoff graduated as a veterinarian from the University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort in 2008. She started her work career as a private veterinarian in a mixed animal practice, followed by State Veterinarian, Import and Export Control. She is employed by the Meat Board of Namibia as the Executive for the Meat Standards department since October 2014.  This department administers the Farm Assured Namibian Meat Scheme, performs certain administrative functions on behalf of the Directorate of Veterinary Services (DVS), conducts Export Quality control at export approved abattoirs and works closely with the DVS in terms of animal disease control, producer compliance to rules and regulations and policy development.

Trained as a veterinarian and molecular biologist, Anne-Sophie Lequarré worked twenty years doing research in virology, immunology and genomics related to livestock. In 2010, she joined the European Commission’s DG-Research to manage livestock research projects. Then, she moved to the Joint Research Centre as a biological threat expert for improving the coordination in biosafety and biosecurity measures in the EU. She was involved in the EU CBRN risk mitigation Centre of Excellence initiative supporting third countries to strengthen capacities for the reduction of biological risks whether from natural, accidental or criminal sources. She is now at the Service for Foreign Policy Instruments where she manages the CBRN CoE program and coordinates the African regions.