Health SecurityPub Date : 2024-06-01Epub Date: 2024-02-09DOI: 10.1089/hs.2023.0093
Hassan Farhat, Guillaume Alinier, Mariana Helou, Ionnais Galatis, Nidaa Bajow, Denis Jose, Sarra Jouini, Sermet Sezigen, Samia Hafi, Sheena Mccabe, Naoufel Somrani, Kawther El Aifa, Henda Chebbi, Asma Ben Amor, Yosra Kerkeni, Ahmed M Al-Wathinani, Nassem Mohammed Abdulla, Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun, Brendon Morris, Nicholas Castle, Loua Al-Sheikh, Walid Abougalala, Mohamed Ben Dhiab, James Laughton
{"title":"Perspectives on Preparedness for Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Threats in the Middle East and North Africa Region: Application of Artificial Intelligence Techniques.","authors":"Hassan Farhat, Guillaume Alinier, Mariana Helou, Ionnais Galatis, Nidaa Bajow, Denis Jose, Sarra Jouini, Sermet Sezigen, Samia Hafi, Sheena Mccabe, Naoufel Somrani, Kawther El Aifa, Henda Chebbi, Asma Ben Amor, Yosra Kerkeni, Ahmed M Al-Wathinani, Nassem Mohammed Abdulla, Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun, Brendon Morris, Nicholas Castle, Loua Al-Sheikh, Walid Abougalala, Mohamed Ben Dhiab, James Laughton","doi":"10.1089/hs.2023.0093","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hs.2023.0093","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Over the past 3 decades, the diversity of ethnic, religious, and political backgrounds worldwide, particularly in countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), has led to an increase in the number of intercountry conflicts and terrorist attacks, sometimes involving chemical and biological agents. This warrants moving toward a collaborative approach to strengthening preparedness in the region. In disaster medicine, artificial intelligence techniques have been increasingly utilized to allow a thorough analysis by revealing unseen patterns. In this study, the authors used text mining and machine learning techniques to analyze open-ended feedback from multidisciplinary experts in disaster medicine regarding the MENA region's preparedness for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) risks. Open-ended feedback from 29 international experts in disaster medicine, selected based on their organizational roles and contributions to the academic field, was collected using a modified interview method between October and December 2022. Machine learning clustering algorithms, natural language processing, and sentiment analysis were used to analyze the data gathered using R language accessed through the RStudio environment. Findings revealed negative and fearful sentiments about a lack of accessibility to preparedness information, as well as positive sentiments toward CBRN preparedness concepts raised by the modified interview method. The artificial intelligence analysis techniques revealed a common consensus among experts about the importance of having accessible and effective plans and improved health sector preparedness in MENA, especially for potential chemical and biological incidents. Findings from this study can inform policymakers in the region to converge their efforts to build collaborative initiatives to strengthen CBRN preparedness capabilities in the healthcare sector.</p>","PeriodicalId":12955,"journal":{"name":"Health Security","volume":" ","pages":"190-202"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139711876","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health SecurityPub Date : 2024-06-01Epub Date: 2024-05-20DOI: 10.1089/hs.2023.0081
Tristan P Learoyd
{"title":"Underreporting or Failed Notification? Global Botulism Reporting, 2000-2022.","authors":"Tristan P Learoyd","doi":"10.1089/hs.2023.0081","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hs.2023.0081","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Botulism is a rare, potentially fatal illness caused by botulinum toxins produced by <i>Clostridium</i> bacteria. There are no coordinated worldwide reporting mechanisms for botulism cases and therefore few reliable case frequency estimates. This study aimed to establish an international benchmark for case frequency to determine estimated global rates of underreporting of botulism cases. To this end, a comprehensive, multilingual search of major global and national databases, including gray data and government sources, was performed. Data from case series were pooled, standardized against United Nations midyear population estimates, and analyzed using Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests to identify normally distributed data series. National incidence rates of normally distributed series were compared with that of the United States, which was considered the gold standard due to its extensive data reported for 2004-2018. A total of 6,932 botulism cases from 59 nations were identified in the literature, with a global case fatality rate of 1.37%. The national mean incidence rate ranged from 0.00 to 8.04 cases per million people, with an international mean incidence rate of 0.62 cases per million people. At the continent level, incidence rates tended toward normal distributions, although few countries outside of North America and Europe exhibited normal distributions. Based on comparisons with the US standard, an estimated 88.71% of botulism cases worldwide were unreported in 2016. Better awareness of botulism among healthcare professionals, coordinated global reporting mechanisms, and research on additional contributing factors to underreporting would enable better understanding of global case frequency, thereby potentially reducing the global incidence of botulism and improving outcomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":12955,"journal":{"name":"Health Security","volume":" ","pages":"203-209"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141069864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health SecurityPub Date : 2024-06-01Epub Date: 2024-02-26DOI: 10.1089/hs.2023.0069
Andrew W Bartlow, Earl A Middlebrook, Armand E K Dichosa, John Kayiwa, Charity A Nassuna, Gladys Kiggundu, Jeanne M Fair
{"title":"Ongoing Cooperative Engagement Facilitates Agile Pandemic and Outbreak Response: Lessons Learned Through Cooperative Engagement Between Uganda and the United States.","authors":"Andrew W Bartlow, Earl A Middlebrook, Armand E K Dichosa, John Kayiwa, Charity A Nassuna, Gladys Kiggundu, Jeanne M Fair","doi":"10.1089/hs.2023.0069","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hs.2023.0069","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pathogens threaten human lives and disrupt economies around the world. This has been clearly illustrated by the current COVID-19 pandemic and outbreaks in livestock and food crops. To manage pathogen emergence and spread, cooperative engagement programs develop and strengthen biosafety, biosecurity, and biosurveillance capabilities among local researchers to detect pathogens. In this case study, we describe the efforts of a collaboration between the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Uganda Virus Research Institute, the primary viral diagnostic laboratory in Uganda, to implement and ensure the sustainability of sequencing for biosurveillance. We describe the process of establishing this capability along with the lessons learned from both sides of the partnership to inform future cooperative engagement efforts in low- and middle-income countries. We found that by strengthening sequencing capabilities at the Uganda Virus Research Institute before the COVID-19 pandemic, the institute was able to successfully sequence SARS-CoV-2 samples and provide data to the scientific community. We highlight the need to strengthen and sustain capabilities through in-country training, collaborative research projects, and trust.</p>","PeriodicalId":12955,"journal":{"name":"Health Security","volume":" ","pages":"223-234"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139971665","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health SecurityPub Date : 2024-06-01Epub Date: 2024-05-09DOI: 10.1089/hs.2023.0082
Yoojin Park, Boyeong Ryu, Eonjoo Park, Hyunjung Kim, GwangJin Kim, Jonghee Cho, Young Dea Kim, Sangwoo Tak, Young June Choe
{"title":"Tracing the Untraceables: A Joint Outbreak Investigation With Law Enforcement Using a Geographic Information System.","authors":"Yoojin Park, Boyeong Ryu, Eonjoo Park, Hyunjung Kim, GwangJin Kim, Jonghee Cho, Young Dea Kim, Sangwoo Tak, Young June Choe","doi":"10.1089/hs.2023.0082","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hs.2023.0082","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The application of geospatial data often allows the tracing of people who are involved in activities of an illegal nature. In June 2021, we estimated the true magnitude of the spread of COVID-19 within the networks of escort-karaoke bars in Seoul, Republic of Korea, using geographic information system (GIS)-based contact tracing that was applied to our epidemiological investigation. Our joint rapid response team, composed of epidemic investigation officers and police personnel, identified 19 paper-traced cases and 158 GIS-traced cases from 5,692 confirmed cases in Seoul during the study period (June to July 2021). Our findings suggest that collaboration with law enforcement agencies and the use of overlaid satellite imagery in outbreak investigations enhances high vigilance and reduces the risk of potential breaches of human rights in the process.</p>","PeriodicalId":12955,"journal":{"name":"Health Security","volume":" ","pages":"183-189"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140897995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health SecurityPub Date : 2024-06-01Epub Date: 2024-05-07DOI: 10.1089/hs.2023.0113
Carol A Pertowski, Kathy Cahill, Tomas J Aguilar, Judith A Monroe
{"title":"Meeting Gaps in the Public Health Workforce During Emergencies: How a Nongovernmental Organization Supported Critical Staffing Needs in the COVID-19 Response.","authors":"Carol A Pertowski, Kathy Cahill, Tomas J Aguilar, Judith A Monroe","doi":"10.1089/hs.2023.0113","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hs.2023.0113","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The public health workforce continues to experience staff shortages, which hampered the ability of US state, tribal, local, and territorial health departments to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In April 2020, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded $45 million to the CDC Foundation to provide field assignees to support these health departments. To expand these efforts, the CDC provided an additional $20 million in May 2021 for vaccination efforts and $200 million in June 2021 to support COVID-19 response and general infrastructure support. The CDC Foundation worked with jurisdictions across the United States to develop job descriptions based on need and recruit nationally for positions. This expanded project, called the Workforce/Vaccine Initiative, hired 3,014 staff in 91 jurisdictions, with 2,310 (77%) hired by January 2022. Most assignments were fully remote (55%) or hybrid (28%). The largest number of staff (n=720) supported COVID-19 response work in schools. Other common functions included contact tracing/case investigation (n=456), program coordination (n=330), epidemiology (n=297), data and surveillance (n=283), and administrative support (n=220). To advance health equity and improve response efforts, 79 health equity staff were assigned to 30 jurisdictions. To support the needs of tribes, 76 field staff supported 22 tribal entities. This project demonstrated the important role of a flexible, centralized approach to rapid placement of staff in public health departments during an emergency response. While the goal of the Workforce/Vaccine Initiative was to meet short-term staffing needs, lessons learned could provide insights for building a sustainable and scalable public health workforce.</p>","PeriodicalId":12955,"journal":{"name":"Health Security","volume":" ","pages":"235-243"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140891827","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health SecurityPub Date : 2024-03-01Epub Date: 2024-02-23DOI: 10.1089/hs.2023.0103
Helene McOwen, Judith N Wasserheit, Peter Rabinowitz
{"title":"US Academic and NGO Engagement in Pandemic Preparedness and Response.","authors":"Helene McOwen, Judith N Wasserheit, Peter Rabinowitz","doi":"10.1089/hs.2023.0103","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hs.2023.0103","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12955,"journal":{"name":"Health Security","volume":" ","pages":"167-171"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139939941","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health SecurityPub Date : 2024-03-01Epub Date: 2024-02-22DOI: 10.1089/hs.2023.0091
Angelia M Sanders, Madeline Warman, Frederic Deycard, John Goodman, April Klein, Karmen Unterwegner, Boukary Sangare, Sadi Moussa, Stacia George, Irene Pujol Chica, Cheick Oumar Coulibaly, Moussa Saye, Kimberly A Jensen, Adam J Weiss, Kashef Ijaz
{"title":"Advancing Health Security and Disease Eradication Through Peace and Health: A Mali Case Study.","authors":"Angelia M Sanders, Madeline Warman, Frederic Deycard, John Goodman, April Klein, Karmen Unterwegner, Boukary Sangare, Sadi Moussa, Stacia George, Irene Pujol Chica, Cheick Oumar Coulibaly, Moussa Saye, Kimberly A Jensen, Adam J Weiss, Kashef Ijaz","doi":"10.1089/hs.2023.0091","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hs.2023.0091","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Conflict and violence constitute threats to public health. As levels of conflict increase within and between countries, it is important to explore how conflict resolution initiatives can be adapted to meet the health needs of communities, and how addressing the health needs of communities can assist in conflict resolution and contribute to health security. In conflict-affected central Mali, a Peace through Health Initiative, piloted between 2018 and 2022, used conflict resolution trainings, facilitated community meetings, and human and animal health interventions to negotiate \"periods of tranquility\" to achieve public health goals. Project activities resulted in improved health, improved livelihoods, reduced violence, improved trust among stakeholders, and greater inclusion of community members in peace and health decisionmaking. The Peace-Health Initiative generated several lessons learned related to 3 phases of peace-health programming: preintervention, program development, and implementation. These lessons can be applied to support expanded Peace through Health Initiatives within Mali, may be adaptable to other conflict-afflicted contexts, and should be considered in relation to the implementation of global health security.</p>","PeriodicalId":12955,"journal":{"name":"Health Security","volume":" ","pages":"159-166"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11044869/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139930926","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health SecurityPub Date : 2024-03-01Epub Date: 2024-03-13DOI: 10.1089/hs.2023.0076
Andy Lin, Cameron M Torres, Errett C Hobbs, Jaydeep Bardhan, Stephen B Aley, Charles T Spencer, Karen L Taylor, Tony Chiang
{"title":"Computational and Systems Biology Advances to Enable Bioagent Agnostic Signatures.","authors":"Andy Lin, Cameron M Torres, Errett C Hobbs, Jaydeep Bardhan, Stephen B Aley, Charles T Spencer, Karen L Taylor, Tony Chiang","doi":"10.1089/hs.2023.0076","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hs.2023.0076","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12955,"journal":{"name":"Health Security","volume":" ","pages":"130-139"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11044874/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140119326","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health SecurityPub Date : 2024-03-01Epub Date: 2024-03-28DOI: 10.1089/hs.2023.0098
Yong-Bee Lim, Saskia Popescu
{"title":"Exploring List-Based Approaches and Potential Threat Agnostic Applications in US Biodefense and Public Health-Toward a Hybrid Approach.","authors":"Yong-Bee Lim, Saskia Popescu","doi":"10.1089/hs.2023.0098","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hs.2023.0098","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12955,"journal":{"name":"Health Security","volume":" ","pages":"146-155"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140305416","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health SecurityPub Date : 2024-03-01Epub Date: 2024-03-21DOI: 10.1089/hs.2023.0102
Elizabeth Rubin, Caitlin Harvey, Alma Villatoro, Brandon Dean
{"title":"Next Generation Public Health Emergency Readiness: Standardized Tools and a Threat Agnostic Biosurveillance System.","authors":"Elizabeth Rubin, Caitlin Harvey, Alma Villatoro, Brandon Dean","doi":"10.1089/hs.2023.0102","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hs.2023.0102","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":12955,"journal":{"name":"Health Security","volume":" ","pages":"140-145"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3,"publicationDate":"2024-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140184262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}