BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//jEvents 2.0 for Joomla//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT UID:d30a64447807b552e86b53bbbc9c0436 CATEGORIES:Polar Conferences, Meetings and Events CREATED:20190325T152740 SUMMARY:Workshop "Understanding and Responding to Global Health Security Risks from Microbial Threats in the Arctic" LOCATION:Hanover\, Germany DESCRIPTION:This workshop is being planned as a cooperative effort among three boards o f the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [the P olar Research Board, the Board on Life Sciences, and Board on Global Health ] in partnership with the InterAcademy Partnership and the European Academi es Science Advisory Council. \nA rapidly warming climate is leading to wide spread thawing of permafrost and ice across Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. Among the many concerns this raises are growing questions about bacteria an d viruses that could possibly emerge from these thawing environments, raisi ng infectious microbial risks for animal and human populations. This intere st grew in 2016, when Siberia’s Yamal Peninsula saw an outbreak of anthrax that infected dozens of people and killed more than 2300 reindeer, which so me speculated may have resulted from anthrax spores released from a thawing reindeer carcass.  Also in recent years there have been numerous instances where researchers have recovered from permafrost soil samples various frag ments of DNA/RNA from diseases such as smallpox, bubonic plague, and the 19 18 influenza virus.  This raises concerns, given that many currently or pre viously populated high-latitude regions contain buried remains of humans an d animals that died from such diseases.  Studies have shown that bacteria a nd viruses frozen in the environment can remain viable for thousands and ev en millions of years; and this raises questions about whether permafrost ma y harbor microbes that are human pathogens, and for which modern immune sys tems have no protection. Given the very limited studies to date, it is diff icult to characterize the magnitude and nature of these potential risks; ye t understanding and preparing for “low-probability, high-consequence” event s is one of the hallmarks of a robust public health protection strategy.\nT his workshop will bring together an international, interdisciplinary group of experts to explore what is known, and what critical knowledge gaps remai n, regarding existing and possible future risks of harmful infectious agent s emerging from thawing Arctic environments. Discussions will encompass top ics such as:\n\n - known risks such as anthrax, and other unknown human and animal microbial health risks that could conceivably be harbored in ice an d permafrost;\n - key research needs and critical tools for improving obser vations and surveillance, to advance our understanding of these risks, and to develop effective early warning systems;\n - relevant lessons learned fr om efforts to address emerging/re-emerging microbial threats elsewhere in t he world;\n - opportunities to facilitate interagency and international coo peration on such efforts, and to build upon existing programs and platforms for cooperation.The workshop may also consider broader “One Health“ perspe ctives on the changing Arctic environment and infectious disease dynamics; and questions about whether research on particular pathogens raises new bio safety/biosecurity concerns.  We hope to convene active researchers from nu merous disciplines, public health officials, and representatives from key A rctic-region indigenous communities (such as reindeer herders).\nDeadline t o submit nominations for workshop planning committee members: 5 April 2019, via \n X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

This workshop is being planned as a cooperative effort among three boards of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicin e [the Polar Research Board, the Board on Life Sciences, and Board on Globa l Health] in partnership with the InterAcademy Partnership and the European Academies Science Advisory Council. 

A rapidly warming climate is leading to widespread thawing of permafrost and ice across Arctic and su b-Arctic regions. Among the many concerns this raises are growing questions about bacteria and viruses that could possibly emerge from these thawing e nvironments, raising infectious microbial risks for animal and human popula tions. This interest grew in 2016, when Siberia’s Yamal Peninsula saw an ou tbreak of anthrax that infected dozens of people and killed more than 2300 reindeer, which some speculated may have resulted from anthrax spores relea sed from a thawing reindeer carcass.  Also in recent years there have been numerous instances where researchers have recovered from permafrost so il samples various fragments of DNA/RNA from diseases such as smallpox, bub onic plague, and the 1918 influenza virus.  This raises concerns, give n that many currently or previously populated high-latitude regions contain buried remains of humans and animals that died from such diseases.  S tudies have shown that bacteria and viruses frozen in the environment can r emain viable for thousands and even millions of years; and this raises ques tions about whether permafrost may harbor microbes that are human pathogens , and for which modern immune systems have no protection. Given the very li mited studies to date, it is difficult to characterize the magnitude and na ture of these potential risks; yet understanding and preparing for “low-pro bability, high-consequence” events is one of the hallmarks of a robust publ ic health protection strategy.

This workshop will bring together an i nternational, interdisciplinary group of experts to explore what is known, and what critical knowledge gaps remain, regarding existing and possible fu ture risks of harmful infectious agents emerging from thawing Arctic enviro nments. Discussions will encompass topics such as:

The workshop may also consider broader “One Health“ perspectives on the changing Arctic environment and infectious disease dynamics; and que stions about whether research on particular pathogens raises new biosafety/ biosecurity concerns.  We hope to convene active researchers from nume rous disciplines, public health officials, and representatives from key Arc tic-region indigenous communities (such as reindeer herders).

Deadline to submit nominations for workshop planning committee members:&nb sp;5 April 2019, via Call for Nominatio ns webpage

CONTACT:Lauren Everett, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. document.getElementById('cloak8e8e582cc326ca131db720777366c6cd').innerHTML = ''; var prefix = 'ma' + 'il' + 'to'; var path = 'hr' + 'ef' + '='; var addy8e8e582cc326ca131db720777366c6cd = 'leverett' + '@'; addy8e8e582cc326ca131db720777366c6cd = addy8e8e582cc326ca131db720777366c6cd + 'nas' + '.' + 'edu'; var addy_text8e8e582cc326ca131db720777366c6cd = 'leverett' + '@' + 'nas' + '.' + 'edu';document.getElementById('cloak8e8e582cc326ca131db720777366c6cd').innerHTML += ''+addy_text8e8e582cc326ca131db720777366c6cd+''; DTSTAMP:20260425T042332Z DTSTART;TZID=UTC;VALUE=DATE:20191106 DTEND;TZID=UTC;VALUE=DATE:20191108 SEQUENCE:0 TRANSP:OPAQUE END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR