Formerly international concerns are increasingly becoming part of everyday clinical and public health practice in the United States.
The symposium “From Global to Local: The New Face of Threats to U.S. Public Health,” Thursday, Oct. 22, 1:45-3 p.m. ET, will explore three challenges that are making an impact.
Moderated by Candice McNeil, MD, MPH, associate professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Jay Butler, MD, dean of the College of Health at the University of Alaska Anchorage, the session will examine Chagas disease, malaria and mpox through a distinctly U.S. lens.
Speakers will include Sarah Hamer, DVM, PhD, a professor at Texas A&M University; Alison Ridpath, MD, MPH, a medical epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Kathleen Jacobson, MD, chief of the Office of STIs and HCV at the California Department of Public Health.
The idea for the session grew from a recognition that diseases traditionally associated with other regions increasingly affect patients, clinicians and public health agencies in the United States.
The overarching theme is “the importance of a global approach to addressing communicable diseases, both from a public health standpoint as well as a clinical infectious disease standpoint,” Dr. Butler said.
Or as Dr. McNeil expressed it: “Global health is local public health.” While travel continues to move pathogens quickly around the world, she noted that prevention and early recognition remain critical responsibilities for front-line providers. “We need to make sure that we have an awareness of all of these things out there,” she said.
Dr. Ridpath’s presentation, “Malaria in the United States: Epidemiology and Updated Treatment Guidance for Providers,” will cover both the epidemiology of malaria and newly updated treatment recommendations. Dr. Ridpath has been closely involved in malaria guideline development and is eager to share “some really important changes that have happened with malaria treatment,” Dr. McNeil said.
The talk will also address sporadic malaria cases that have occurred within the United States, underscoring the need for clinician awareness even when patients have not recently traveled abroad.
Dr. Jacobson’s presentation, “Tracking the Evolution of a Modern Outbreak: Mpox in the U.S.,” will draw on California’s experience responding to newer mpox cases. Organizers hope attendees will gain practical lessons from those investigations while remembering that “mpox has not gone away,” Dr. McNeil said. She noted that continued vigilance, vaccination and recognition of key clinical manifestations remain important.
In the presentation “Chagas Disease Ecology in the U.S. at the Vector-Human-Animal Interface,” Dr. Hamer will bring a One Health perspective to a disease that highlights the connections among humans, animals and the environment.
Organizers believe the session will appeal to a broad audience, not just those focused on global health. Dr. Butler pointed to examples such as H5N1 influenza, vector-borne diseases and mpox to illustrate how pathogens, animals, travel and environmental changes can influence disease transmission close to home.
“I hope there would be an awareness that global is local, and local can be that patient who is sitting right there in front of you,” Dr. Butler said. “Getting back to that question of asking where have you been and who have you been with is really the meat and potatoes of what we do in clinical infectious diseases.”