FAO-OIE-WHO Joint Technical Consultation on Avian Influenza at ...

<strong>Joint</strong> Writing CommitteeAppendix A: Recommended short tomedium term actionsCollaboration and coordination1. Promote and strengthen ongoing collaboration (e.g.,joint evolution working group, technical exchange ofscientific information, national coordination of sectors)and identify novel areas for additional technical collaboration.2. Identify new strategic partners to better address gaps inknowledge at the human–animal interface.Surveillance and use of data1. Broaden the timely collection of both HPAI and LPAIinfluenza viruses and associated epidemiological data toensure that the full scope of hosts, ecologies, and geographicareas are represented (e.g., including environmentalmonitoring in markets, rice paddies, households,and other areas of increased risk).2. Expand partnerships with the private sector andimprove capacity where necessary to ensure adequateinfluenza surveillance.3. Support research on diagnostic tests for influenza inpoultry and humans aimed at improving consistency,sensitivity, rapidity, and cost-effectiveness.4. Use virological surveillance data to inform continual reassessmentof diagnostic reagents and vaccines, monitorvirus evolution and antiviral resistance, and assess risks ofemergence of potential zoonotic and pandemic strains.Transdisciplinary research on zoonotic risk1. Increase and improve data on zoonotic influenza inhumans through standardized data collection, and additionalcase control and serological studies in the field.2. Develop tools and conduct integrated analysis of zoonoticrisks from animal influenza viruses, and translatetechnical knowledge gained into practical strategies andrecommendations at the interface.3. Determine the public health risks from live poultry marketsand assess the impact of interventions at differentlevels of the market chain.4. Improve understanding of the pathogenesis and modesof intra- and inter- species transmission of zoonoticinfluenza viruses through more detailed studies inhumans and better animal models, including improvingunderstanding of the tissue distributions of virus receptorsand their role as barriers to transmission, and useknowledge to enhance animal and public health riskmitigation strategies.5. Improve understanding of the factors that drive the evolutionof animal influenza viruses in poultry, otherbirds, and mammals.6. Promote full genome sequencing of isolates and ensurecontinual updating of information on all relevant influenzavirus mutations and reassortments.7. Determine the zoonotic potential of swine and otheranimal influenza viruses of various subtypes.8. Develop and validate more sensitive and specific testsfor detecting antibodies to avian influenza viruses inavian and non-avian species including humans.9. Incorporate experts in social sciences and communicationto ensure that interventions and recommendationsto decrease public health risks take into account culturaland socioeconomic aspects that will improve theefficacy of implementation.10. Monitor the impact on public health of measuresto reduce infections in poultry, such as poultry vaccination,and strive to continually improve such measures.Sharing of technical tools and information1. Continue to strengthen and improve existing mechanismsand systems for information collection, sharing,and analysis maintained by <strong>OIE</strong> and <strong>FAO</strong> (includingOFFLU) and <strong>WHO</strong> (such as GLEWS) and facilitateand promote interagency collaboration wherever possible.2. Establish real-time communication systems towidely share and discuss technical information amongall global, regional, and national partners and stakeholders.3. Find innovative solutions to improve technical collaborationand effective information and material sharing.Actions for broadening1. Promote a more holistic and collaborative approach toimprove both human and animal health and build moreeffective teams and partnerships, especially throughstrengthening of existing institutions.2. Promote study of the ecology of emerging zoonoses andconstruct new interventions and prevention strategiesbased on scientific understanding of the effects of ecologyon diseases at the interface.3. Encourage the further expansion and refinement of theGLEWS system and the GLEWS platform for sharinginformation among the organizations (e.g., considerincluding laboratory and outbreak investigation teamtraining and developing internships).4. Move towards coordinated development of diagnosticsand reagents for use across animal and publichealth laboratories wherever appropriate, to ensureimproved standardization, comparability, and accuracyof results.16 ª 2010 <strong>FAO</strong>, <strong>OIE</strong> and <strong>WHO</strong>, Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, 4 (Suppl. 1), 1–29