Ecohealth Alliance Inc

PROTECTING GLOBAL HEALTH BY PREVENTING THE OUTBREAK OF EMERGING DISEASES AND SAFEGUARDING ECOSYSTEMS BY PROMOTING CONSERVATION.

RESEARCH AND ADVANCE THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE RISK OF NOVEL VIRAL EMERGENCE IN A UNIQUELY IMPORTANT REGION. ALSO, STRENGTHEN IN-COUNTRY RESEARCH CAPACITY BY LINKING LOCAL INFECTIOUS DISEASE SCIENTISTS WITH AN INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIVE NETWORK THAT HAS PROVEN CAPACITY TO CONDUCT THIS WORK AND PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS. THE LARGE BODY OF HIGH IMPACT COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH FROM THIS EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASE RESEARCH CENTER (EIDRC) LEADERSHIP TEAM PROVIDES PROOF-OF-CONCEPT THAT EMERGING INFECTIOUS DISEASE (EID)-SEARCH HAS THE BACKGROUND, COLLABORATIVE NETWORK, EXPERIENCE, AND SKILLSET TO ACT AS A UNIQUE EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR NOVEL EIDS OF ANY ETIOLOGY THREATENING TO EMERGE IN THIS HOTTEST OF THE EID HOTSPOTS.

THE GOAL OF THE OHW-NG PROJECT IS TO EMPOWER ONE HEALTH UNIVERSITY NETWORKS TO SUSTAINABLY DEVELOP AND DELIVER WORLD-LEADING MODEL PROGRAMS FOR PROVIDING PROFESSIONALS WITH TRANSDISCIPLINARY SKILLS TO ADDRESS COMPLEX GLOBAL HEALTH ISSUES. THE OHW-NG GLOBAL TEAM WILL BE WORKING HAND-IN-HAND WITH AFROHUN AND SEAOHUN TO EQUIP CURRENT AND FUTURE PROFESSIONALS WITH ESSENTIAL SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES TO ADDRESS HIGH PRIORITY HEALTH ISSUES, INCLUDING ZOONOTIC DISEASES AND ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE (AMR) THREATS. ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE HAS A CORE FOCUS OF TRANSLATING ITS STRONG ECOSYSTEM HEALTH SCIENCE INTO ACTIONABLE INFORMATION FOR HEALTH POLICY MAKERS. FOR EXAMPLE, ON A LOCAL LEVEL, ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE PRESENTED ON THE SCALE AND IMPACTS OF THE ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE IN NEW YORK TO THE STATES DISTRICT ATTORNEY ASSOCIATION TO RAISE AWARENESS AMONG PROSECUTORS. ON A NATIONAL LEVEL, ECOHEALTH ALLIANCE PROVIDED SCIENTIFIC GUIDANCE THROUGH INVITED BRIEFINGS TO CONGRESSIONAL AND WHITE HOUSE OFFICIALS ON PANDEMIC PREVENTION AND CONTROL AND NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT. THIS WAS ESPECIALLY RELEVANT GIVEN THE U.S. GOVERNMENT GROWING FOCUS ON GLOBAL HEALTH SECURITY AND CONCERNS OVER THE ILLEGAL WILDLIFE TRADE.

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS GRANT IS TO REDUCE THE THREAT OF RVF BY IMPROVING THE UNDERSTANDING OF RVFV CIRCULATION DURING INTER-EPIDEMIC PERIODS, IMPROVING LOCAL CAPACITY TO PREDICT THE PERIOD OF HIGH RISK FOR RVF OUTBREAKS AND DETERMINING THE MULTI-SECTORAL COST OF RVF IN THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA (RSA). STUDIES IN THE FREE STATE/NORTHERN CAPE (FS/NC) AND KWAZULU-NATAL (KZN) REGIONS WILL GENERATE NEW UNDERSTANDING OF RVF MAINTENANCE, CIRCULATION AN IMPACTS AND IMPROVE RISK PREDICTION MODELS FOR THE COUNTRY. THROUGH MULTI DISCIPLINARY INVESTIGATION OF THREE CORE HYPOTHESES, THE PROJECT SHALL STRENGTHEN SOUTH AFRICA'S LEADERSHIP ROLE WITHIN THE AFRICAN CONTINENT TO REDUCE THE THREAT OF RVF AND OTHER VECTOR-BORNE DISEASES THROUGH THE CHARACTERIZATION OF RVFV EPIDEMIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY IN TROPICAL AND TEMPERATE ECOSYSTEMS. SAMPLING SPECIES FOR PATHOGENS IN EACH COUNTRY ALONG A DEFORESTATION GRADIENT, I.E., LOOKING AT AREAS WITH NO DEFORESTATION, SOME DEFORESTATION, AND AREAS WHERE ONCE PRISTINE FORESTS HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY REMOVED. IN EACH REGION, ECOHEALTH SCIENTISTS ARE INVESTIGATING THE NUMBER OF VIRUSES PRESENT IN DIFFERENT WILDLIFE GROUPS. PROJECT DEEP FOREST ALLOWS THE ORGANIZATION TO CREATE OUTREACH VIA LOCAL COMMUNITIES AND CORPORATE STAKEHOLDERS TO PROMOTE THE PRESERVATION OF NATURAL LANDS AND DIMINISH THE DEVASTATING EFFECTS OF LAND-USE CHANGE.