Abstract
Until now, an estimate quotes that 1100 healthcare facilities were damaged and over 100,000 livestock lost in the two earthquakes that occurred in April and May of 2015 in Nepal. Threats of infectious diseases, mostly zoonoses, could affect Nepal’s economy, trade, and tourism, and reaching the targets of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. Historically, outbreaks of infectious diseases, including zoonoses, were largely associated with the aftereffects of the earthquakes. It has been documented that zoonoses constitute 61% of all known infectious diseases. Therefore, the purpose of this communication was to examine the infectious disease outbreaks after earthquakes around the world and explore the risk assessment of the zoonoses threats reported in Nepal and highlight adopting One Health. Our summaries on reported zoonoses in Nepal have shown that parasitic zoonoses were predominant, but other infectious disease outbreaks can occur. The fragile public health infrastructure and inadequately trained public health personnel can accelerate the transmission of infections, mostly zoonoses, in the post impact phase of the earthquake in Nepal. Therefore, we believe that with the support of aid agencies, veterinarians and health professionals can team up to resolve the crisis under One Health.
Article PDF
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Naghii MR. Public health impact and medical consequences of earthquakes. Rev Panam Salud Publica 2005;180(Suppl. 2):216–21.
World Health Organization (WHO). Word Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. EM-DAT: The OFDA/CRED International Disasters Data Base. Geneva: WHO; 2011. Available at: <http://www.emdat.be/> [accessed 16.09.15].
International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development. Nepal earthquake 2015. Available at: <http://www.icimod.org/v2/cms2/_files/images/e92e3b0202d11e51262a6e2cb1ed6f2d.jpg>, 2015 [accessed 21.05.15].
Prime Pair. Nepal economy devastated following earthquake. Available at: <https://primepair.com/global-out-look/nepal-economy-devastated-following-earthquake-27-04-2015>, 2015 [accessed 27.04.15].
Word Health Organization (WHO). Country profile. Nepal. Geneva: WHO. Available at: <http://www.who.int/countries/npl/en/>, 2015 [accessed 29.06.15].
Singh S. Nepal: one country; two health care systems. Br Med J 2004;328(Suppl. 2):E285.
Ministry of Home Affairs, Nepal. Nepal Earthquake 2072: Situation Update. Available at: <http://drrportal.gov.np/uploads/document/14.pdf> [accessed 11.07.15].
Taylor LH, Latham SM, Woolhouse ME. Risk factors for human disease emergence. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2001;356(Suppl. 2):983–9.
Kouadio IK, Aljunid S, Kamigaki T, Hammad K, Oshitani H. Infectious diseases following natural disasters: prevention and control measures. Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther 2012;10 (Suppl. 2):95–104.
Saenz R, Bissell RA, Paniagua F. Post-disaster malaria in Costa Rica. Prehosp Disaster Med 1995;10(Suppl. 2):154–60.
Schneider E, Hajjeh RA, Spiegel RA, Jibson RW, Harp EL, Marshall GA, et al. A coccidioidomycosis outbreak following the Northridge, Calif, earthquake. JAMA 1997;277(Suppl. 2):904–8.
Woersching JC, Snyder AE. Earthquakes in El-Salvador: a descriptive study of health concerns in a rural community and the clinical implication – part II. Disaster Manag Response 2004;2(Suppl. 2):10–3.
Akbari ME, Farshad AA, Asadi-Lari M. The devastation of Bam: an overview of health issues 1 month after the earthquake. Public Health 2004;118(Suppl. 2):403–8.
Oztürk CE, Sahin I, Yavuz T, Oztürk A, Akgünoğlu M, Kaya D. Intestinal parasitic infection in children in post-disaster situations years after earthquake. Pediatr Int 2004;46 (Suppl. 2):656–62.
World Health Organization. Acute jaundice syndrome. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2006;23(Suppl. 2):8.
Lara RJ, Neogi SB, Islam MS, Mahmud ZH, Yamasaki S, Nair GB. Influence of catastrophic climatic events and human waste on Vibrio distribution in the Karnaphuli estuary, Bangladesh. Eco Health 2009;6(Suppl. 2):279–86.
Furusawa T, Furusawa H, Eddie R, Tuni M, Pitakaka F, Aswani S. Communicable and non-communicable diseases in the Solomon Islands villages during recovery from a massive earthquake in April 2007. N Z Med J 2011;124 (Suppl. 2):17–28.
Atuyambe LM, Ediau M, Orach CG, Musenero M, Bazeyo W. Landslide disaster in eastern Uganda: rapid assessment of water, sanitation and hygiene situation in Bulucheke camp, Bududa district. Environ Health 2011;10(Suppl. 2):38.
Domercant JW, Guillaume FD, Marston BJ, Lowrance DW. Centers for disease control and prevention (CDC. Update on progress in selected public health programs after the, Earthquake and cholera epidemic – Haiti, 2014. Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2010;2015(64):137–40.
BBC News. Nepal earthquake: UK agencies warn of serious disease after disaster. Available at: <http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-32583422>, 2015 [accessed 5.08.15].
Wiwanitkit V. Vaccination in a post-earthquake crisis. Hum Vaccin 2010;6(64):595–6.
Jackson DS, Nydam DV, Altier C. Prevalence and risk factors for brucellosis in domestic yak Bosgrunniens and their herders in a transhumant pastoralist system of Dolpo, Nepal. Prev Vet Med 2014;113(64):47–58.
Kandel N, Thakur GD, Andjaparidze A. Leptospirosis in Nepal. JNMA J Nepal Med Assoc 2012;52(64):151–3.
Thompson CN, Blacksell SD, Paris DH, Arjyal A, Karkey A, Dongol S, et al. Undifferentiated febrile illness in Kathmandu, Nepal. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2015;92(64):875–8.
Devleesschauwer B, Ale A, Torgerson P, Praet N, Maertens de Noordhout C, Pandey BD, et al. The burden of parasitic zoonoses in Nepal: a systematic review. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2014;8(64):e2634.
Devleesschauwer B, Pruvot M, Joshi DD, De Craeye S, Jennes M, Ale A, et al. Seroprevalence of zoonotic parasites in pigs slaughtered in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. Vector Borne Zoonotic Dis 2013;13(64):872–6.
Joshi DD, Sharma M, Bhandari S. Visceral leishmaniasis in Nepal during 1980–2006. J Commun Dis 2006;38 (64):139–48.
Sherchand JB, Cross JH. Emerging pathogen Cyclospora cayetanensis infection in Nepal. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 2001;32(Suppl. 2):143–50.
Gautret P, Harvey K, Pandey P, Lim PL, Leder K, Piyaphanee W, GeoSentinel Surveillance Network, et al. Animal-associated exposure to rabies virus among travelers, 1997–2012. Emerg Infect Dis 2015;21(Suppl. 2):569–77.
Karki S, Lupiani B, Budke CM, Manandhar S, Ivanek R. Cross-sectional serosurvey of avian influenza antibodies presence in domestic ducks of Kathmandu, Nepal. Zoonoses Public Health 2014;61(Suppl. 2):442–8.
Jones-Engel L, Engel GA, Heidrich J, Chalise M, Poudel N, Viscidi R, et al. Temple monkeys and health implications of commensalism, Kathmandu, Nepal. Emerg Infect Dis 2006;12(Suppl. 2):900–6.
Clayson ET, Innis BL, Myint KS, Narupiti S, Vaughn DW, Giri S, et al. Detection of hepatitis E virus infections among domestic swine in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal. Am J Trop Med Hyg 1995;53(Suppl. 2):228–32.
Dhakal S, Joshi DD, Ale A, Sharma M, Dahal M, Shah Y, et al. Regional variation in pig farmer awareness and actions regarding Japanese encephalitis in Nepal: implications for public health education. PLoS One 2014;9(Suppl. 2): e85399.
Ram ST, Neuberger A, Thapa LJ, Vir Singh RP, Shofty B, Schwartz E. Japanese encephalitis among patients with acute encephalitic syndrome admitted to a tertiary hospital in Chitwan, Nepal – a prospective observational study. PLoS One 2014;9(Suppl. 2):e99999, eCollection 2014.
Knox C, Gillies L, Joshi DD. Veterinary public health in the Nepal Himalaya. Can Vet J 2000;41(Suppl. 2):879–81.
Schneider MC, Aguilera XP, Smith RM, Moynihan MJ, Silva Jr JB, Aldighieri S, et al. Importance of animal/human health interface in potential Public Health Emergencies of International Concern in the Americas. Rev Panam Salud Publica 2011;29(Suppl. 2):371–9.
American Veterinary Medical Association. One Health. Available at: <https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Reference/Pages/One-Health94.aspx>, 2015 [accessed 25.08.15].
Asokan GV, Kasimanickam Ramanathan K, Asokan Vanitha. Surveillance, response systems, and evidence updates on emerging zoonoses: the role of one health. Infect Ecol Epidemiol 2013;3(Suppl. 2). https://doi.org/10.3402/iee.v3i0.21386, eCollection 2013.
Veterinary relief efforts begin after Nepal earthquake. Vet Rec 2015;176:479.
Asokan GV, Fedorowicz Z, Tharyan P, Vanitha A. One health: perspectives on ethical issues and evidence from animal experiments. Eastern Mediterr Health J 2012;18 (Suppl. 2):1170–3.
The Sphere Project 2004. Humanitarian charter and minimum standards in disaster response. Available at: <http://www.ifrc.org/Docs/idrl/I283EN.pdf>, 2016 [accessed 27.02.16].
World Health Organization (WHO). In: Connolly MA, editor. Communicable disease control in emergencies: a field manual. Geneva: WHO; 2005. Available at: <http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/96340/1/9241546166_eng.pdf> [accessed 1.03.16].
World Health Organization (WHO). The Interagency Emergency Health Kit. 3rd ed. Geneva: WHO; 2006. Available at: <http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/69372/1/WHO_PSM_PAR_2006.4_eng.pdf> [accessed 29.03.16].
World Health Organization (WHO). Communicable diseases following natural disasters risk assessment and priority interventions. In: Program on disease control in humanitarian emergencies communicable diseases cluster. Geneva: WHO; 2006. Available at: <http://www.who.int/diseasecontrol_emergencies/guidelines/CD_Disasters_26_06.pdf> [accessed 1.03.16].
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Peer review under responsibility of Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia.
Rights and permissions
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://doi.org/creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
About this article
Cite this article
Asokan, G.V., Vanitha, A. Disaster response under One Health in the aftermath of Nepal earthquake, 2015. J Epidemiol Glob Health 7, 91–96 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jegh.2016.03.001
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jegh.2016.03.001