Public health threats the World faces this year

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As California reels under the onslaught of fire, fears of what is coming in its wake are terrifying the public health management community. Speakers at an Ethnic Media Services briefing Jan. 10, fear the impact of climate change on health threats to the world. 

Because of the change in the vector and their distributions, as well as vulnerabilities to healthcare systems, experts feared climate change’s impact on the spread of infectious diseases.

Additionally, speakers at the briefing feared President Trump’s lack of commitment to fighting climate change. 

Trump's withdrawal from the World Health Organization 

Speakers at an Ethnic Media Services briefing feared Trump withdrawal from the World Health Organization is going to have disastrous effects. 

”This affects our ability to be part of the global security framework,” said Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, founding director of the Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases at Boston University. “WHO serves as a vehicle through which countries can participate and share data. Withdrawal from it means we miss out from that global community,” she said. During COVID-19 we saw the importance of keeping abreast of public health challenges arising around the world. “What circulates in Congo today could be in Colorado tomorrow,” she said. 

What are the health threats that the world faces

Some of the many public health crises the world faces this year are Avian flu, Norovirus, Human metapneumovirus, Oropouche and the continued threat of Covid-19. And with lower vaccination rates in the US, we are witnessing a corresponding spike in illnesses such as whooping cough and human influenza, said the experts.

One of the biggest public health crises all speakers were concerned with is the rise of human influenza. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report on Jan. 3, noting that influenza cases were up by 20% from 2023.

“Under-vaccination is a threat,” said Dr. Benjamin Neuman, professor of biology, Texas A&M University, noting significant drops in people taking non-compulsory vaccinations. “We may see some of the safety net of herd immunity that has been protecting us since the mid-1900s lifted,” he added.

As for human metapneumovirus, it is not going to cause a global pandemic, said Dr. William Schaffner, professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. He discussed the alarming spike of human metapneumovirus cases in Asian countries, including China, India, Malaysia, and Kazakhstan. He noted that the disease is not new. It has been around for several decades, and many countries, including the US, experience a spike each winter. “Chinese public health authorities have said this is within normal limits of what they see during the winter,” he said.

Norovirus, colloquially known as the “winter vomiting disease,” is highly contagious and can be spread through close personal contact, the environment, and even raw shellfish, said Schaffner, noting that hand hygiene – with soap and water, not sanitizers – is most effective. No vaccine is yet available for Norovirus. Treatment consists of sipping clear liquids slowly, to restore fluid balance.

Dr. Peter Chin Hong, infectious diseases specialist, University of California, San Francisco discussed the little-known Oropouche virus, which has infected more than 10,000 people in South America, and 188 cases in the US, mostly associated with travel. The virus – which spreads via bites from midges, certain mosquitoes, and also sexual transmission – can cause encephalitis or meningitis in severe cases. Chin-Hong said he did not expect to see an outbreak in the US. “But we’re seeing an explosion that’s unprecedented, particularly in South America right now and in the Caribbean. And that’s for reasons known to us, including deforestation, and climate change,” he added.

The first US case of Mpox was identified last November in the San Francisco Bay Area. Like Oropouche, Mpox, which has infected more than 50,000 people in Africa, and killed 1,000 children under the age of 15, is also related to climate change and deforestation, said Chin-Hong. Mpox can be transmitted via sexual contact or contact with animals. Chin-Hong does not expect an outbreak in the US.

Avian flu, also known as bird flu and transmitted via the H5N1 virus, is on an alarming rise in 6 continents noted Dr. Maurice Pitesky, doctor of veterinary medicine, University of California, Davis. Avian flu is present in wild and domesticated birds and animals, and now, also in humans. “It’s endemic in North America. We’re 3-plus years into this outbreak and it’s expanded as far as species, geography, economic impact, and food security,” he said.

 “We don’t have a very good surveillance system to monitor the virus. Dairy workers or poultry workers are at occupational risk. lf the virus continues to evolve and mutate, it does show the potential for human-to-human transmission,” said Pitesky.

There is a dramatic undercount of humans experiencing these diseases.  Agricultural, dairy and poultry workers are largely newer immigrants who may be concerned about the impacts of reporting their illness. The workers do not have resources or time to deal with them either. 

“There is a lack of predictability, about where the disease will show up, .. how they may manifest,” said Dr. Nahid Bhadelia, founding director of the Center on Emerging Infectious Diseases at Boston University. 

“They also have secondary impacts, including on medical supplies, on use of antibiotics, et cetera.”