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Mitigating Arboviral Threats and Strengthening Public Health Preparedness: A Workshop

Completed

Arthropod-borne viruses (“arboviruses”), such as those transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks, sicken billions of people around the world each year. In addition, several arboviruses are considered priority pathogens for biodefense research by the NIH. When implementing current measures to strengthen outbreak preparedness capacity, it is important to consider how these can mutually benefit from enhanced mitigation measures for arboviral diseases. This public workshop will review lessons learned from past epidemics, discuss potential actions that can be taken to understand and address emerging arboviral disease threats, and highlight priority areas for research and investment.

Description

A planning committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will organize a public workshop to explore the role of arbovirus mitigation within the context of public health preparedness and capacity building. Workshop discussions will consider potential actions that can be taken to understand and mitigate arboviral disease threats and highlight priority areas for research and investment through examining:

  1. Lessons learned from Zika and chikungunya epidemics, including shared learnings from COVID-19 and mpox;
  2. Aspects of public health preparedness, such as environmental and urban planning issues, that will mutually benefit from enhanced arbovirus mitigation;
  3. Current efforts and approaches for determining high-risk pathogens and vectors;
  4. Current capacity for detecting, diagnosing, and scaling up testing for exotic arboviruses (including surveillance systems and diagnostic laboratory capacity);
  5. The status of vaccine development and availability for arboviruses, including highlights of promising technologies for advancement;
  6. Development and use of vector-targeted mitigation and elimination strategies, including the current status and potential impact of innovative technologies; and
  7. Strategies for strengthening and supporting the necessary workforce in research, development, and public health to address arboviral threats.

The planning committee will organize the workshop, develop the agenda, select speakers and discussants, and moderate or identify moderators for the discussions. A proceedings publication that summarizes the presentations and discussions held during this workshop will be prepared by a designated rapporteur in accordance with institutional guidelines.

Contributors

Committee

Co-Chair

Co-Chair

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Sponsors

Department of Health and Human Services

Other, Federal

Private: For Profit

Private: Non Profit

Staff

Liz Ashby

Lead

Julie Liao

Lead

Julie Pavlin

Julie Liao

Nicky Kuang

Claire Biffl

Erika Chow

Samuel Crawford

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