A renowned scientists and Director of Avian Influenza and other Emerging threats Program at USAID Washington, Dr. Dennis Carol has proposed that the world should adopt risk based models to be able to fight the emerging threat of animal to human transmission of diseases as opposed to the traditional disease surveillance model of fighting disease.

human might get diseases from some animals

Carol has made this proposal while making a lecture on the health challenge of animal to human transmission of diseases at public lecture that has been organised under the one health initiative, an initiative that aims at countering this challenge in developing countries like Uganda.

Carol says the traditional surveillance model is not appropriate in fighting this challenge because it tends to assume disease risks are relatively homogenous across populations and geographical areas yet this is not necessarily the case.

He says however the new risk based model provides insights into where emerging diseases may be and therefore helps alert those ready to counter the diseases easily identify where to point their ‘guns’ when fighting such disease risks.

Carol says the risk based interventions are more strategic in countering this emerging challenge and is a highly cost effective model of fighting disease as compared to the traditional surveillance model.

Even as the risk of diseases transmitted from animals-to-humans increases, their emergence remains relatively rare but occurring at unpredictable times and places.

By Zakaria Tiberindwa, Ultimate Media