Ending the Pandemic Era: Science at the Animal-Human-Environmental Interface

The frequency of epidemics arising from viruses spilling over from animal hosts to people is increasing, driven by surging human populations, environmental change, and globalized trade and travel. Recent catastrophic viral disease outbreaks and the dramatic responses to the pandemic threat illustrate that we are ill-prepared to mitigate the impact of viral threats. In an effort to establish a model to move from the current reactive disease response paradigm to one of prevention and preparedness, the USAID’s PREDICT Consortium, led by Prof. Mazet, has designed and implemented a targeted, risk-based strategy, based on detecting viruses early, at their source. Prof. Mazet will describe PREDICT's work and its results, including the establishment of advanced One Health capacity in more than 30 countries and identification of more than 800 previously undetected viruses, and describe additional work that needs to be done in the wake of the PREDICT Consortium's conclusion that only a small proportion of viral threats (estimated to be much less than 1%) have been identified to-date. 

Jonna Mazet, DVM, MPVM, PhD, is Professor of Epidemiology and Disease Ecology at University of California, Davis, where she is Director of the Wildlife Health Center (WHC), Executive Director of the One Health Institute, and serves on the faculty of the University of California Global Health Institute (UCGHI). Dr. Mazet specializes in wildlife epidemiology and, as Director of the WHC, focuses on balancing the needs of people, wildlife and the environment. As a Professor in the School of Veterinary Medicine, she assists government agencies and the public with emerging infectious diseases of wildlife and manages One Health research programs on such subjects as tuberculosis in Africa, disease conflict in Yellowstone National Park and pathogen pollution of California coastal waters. Prof. Mazet is the Principal Investigator and Director on a global early warning system for pathogens of pandemic potential, named PREDICT, which is funded by USAID. Prof. Mazet founded California’s Oiled Wildlife Care Network (OWCN), the premier model wildlife emergency management system worldwide, and remains a consulting expert on wildlife emergency preparedness and response, serving on multiple government and NGO advisory panels.