#Ethiopia2015: When the heart overflows, it comes out through the mouth.

11784025_10207303807932931_86362059_oWe have satisfaction tinged with sadness today, as our short course came to a close.

I hope the students found it as much fun as I did, as we discussed communication messages and how to get them out into the world. We had a wonderful give and take with lots of questions and discussions.

Two days just did not feel like enough.

We capped off our afternoon with lunch at the Four Sisters–second time, it was so good!–and a shopping excursion across Gondar securing scarves, baskets, coffee and an Ethiopian soccer jersey.

We are making friends all over the place, as my student, Dan, is exchanging numbers with some local teens to meet up for a soccer match.

Tomorrow starts our focus group testing of rabies messages to see if we can come up wit a campaign that might help change behaviors toward vaccination of dogs against rabies, preventing bites and caring for a bite properly should it occur.

There are no words to describe how privileged we feel to be part of this One Health Task Force, and we are not sure how to repay all the kindness we have experienced, especially from our wonderful guide and host Mustafa. Our only hope is that he will join us at Ohio State soon, so we can return the hospitality.

It’s amazing that in such a short time, a place so far from home can feel like home.

Ameseginalehu (thank you) Ethiopia.

2015 Summer Institute: What happened to Saturday?

It seems like just a few hours ago that two students came to my house Friday for a sleepover so we could make our 6 am flight headed for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Joslyn and Dan awaiting passport control in Addis Ababa.

Joslyn and Dan awaiting passport control in Addis Ababa.

As we now sit drinking much needed coffee, we realize it’s already Sunday, we have no idea what happened to Saturday, and we can barely remember what sleep feels like.

We are, however, extremely grateful for the chance to be part of the 2015 Ohio State One Health Summer Institute, where our job will be teaching communication and helping to craft messages that may help with the country’s rabies epidemic.

Since it’s been just eight months since my last visit to Ethiopia, it feels like a homecoming of sorts, but it is also a chance to see the country anew through the eyes of my students, Joslyn and Dan.

As I write, we have made a much-needed rest stop at the Jupiter Hotel in Addis Ababa before heading off to our final destination, the University of Gondar.

I will be here for a week. Dan and Joslyn for two weeks beyond that. We have already adopted the philosophy of the wise and wonderful Wondwossen Gebreyes, the leader of our venture: Maximum flexibility with minimum expectations.

So we celebrated when we found Wondwossen at baggage claim after we flew through  Washington D.C., and he came through Toronto. And we did not sweat when Dan missed his flight to Gondar.

One thing is sure: This will be another incredible adventure.

 

Think Globally: Experiences Abroad Provide Perspective on Life

It is human nature to get used to the routines of life. Commuting to work, the morning coffee, walking the dog, and hundreds of other daily rituals create a level of comfort within our increasingly hectic lives. Being born in America provides an inherent level of comfort. While there is poverty in the United States, most Americans are born into a system of privilege that is not accessible in many areas of the world. Our daily rituals and comforts become second nature, while in other parts of the world these “minor” parts of our day are elaborate luxuries. For example, the United States has a health care system that provides a high level of care inside pristine facilities that contain the latest health technology available to treat and prevent diseases. We don’t think about this, we expect it. We get sick, we go to the doctor, and in most cases we get well. We have a growing culture of preventative health care that promotes healthy living and leads to early detection and a higher rate of successful treatment with many cancers and other diseases. While many countries also share a strong health care system, there are millions of people throughout the world that do not have this luxury. Again, we don’t think about that when we are taking advantage of the health care system, we take it for granted that the system is in place and it will always be there when we need it.

Working in higher education, I see students of all ages, ethnicities, and races expanding their knowledge each and every day. The facilities and resources available to faculty and students in the United States are the best in the world. If you can think it and dream it, you can probably get access to an expert that will help you learn to do it yourself. Similar to our American health system, students and faculty often take this infrastructure of knowledge for granted. There is amazing comfort in academia in the United States with freedom to study and be whatever you want to be, as long as you can financially afford the dream. While our college students are learning in the traditional sense within the confines of this comfortable system, many of them are not learning with a global perspective. The experience that comes from visiting a foreign country and getting outside the umbrella of comfort in the United States provides a valuable perspective that will make a person grown not only in knowledge, but humanity and compassion for others.

While visiting Ethiopia as part of the Global One Health initiative, I was surrounded by many opportunities to see, hear, smell, feel, and experience things that made me contemplate my own realities and expectations. While meeting with doctors I heard stories about the growing epidemic of pediatric cancer patients in Ethiopia, how many cases of cancers are not being detected until it is too late, how access to the needed treatment is not available when needed, and I saw medical facilities that were inadequate to meet the growing demand of the population. While meeting with veterinarians I heard and saw cases of animal diseases that aren’t being treated because of a lack of awareness & understanding and instances of diseases transferring from animals to humans because of contaminated contact.

At the same time I saw and heard a spirited population that is passionate about life, with a rich culture and heritage that is beautifully embraced and celebrated. I saw a level of appreciation for collaboration and the sharing of ideas that I don’t see on a daily basis in the United States. Ethiopia is a country of 96 million, with a median age of 16, who are living in an environment of rapid growth, where building and expansion is outpacing the capacity of the infrastructure, which in turn causes issues from traffic gridlock to water contamination from industrial runoff. In the past seven years, the number of colleges and universities in Ethiopia jumped from three to thirty-three! They live a reality that is vastly different than that of the average American.

As I climb back into my own daily routines in the USA and at OSU, I do so with a different perspective and a greater sense of love for my family, my job, my country, and my beloved alma mater, The Ohio State University. It is my wish for all OSU students to take the opportunity to study abroad and for OSU faculty and staff to engage in global projects. It will truly change your life and open pathways to be energized by collaborating with others in a way that will make a huge impact on the lives of others. Go Bucks, Be Global!

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Ebola a stark reminder of link between health of humans, animals, environment

By Emily Caldwell
Ohio State Research Communications

COLUMBUS, Ohio – For many, global public health seems like an abstract and distant problem – until the Ebola virus is diagnosed among people in our midst.

Though no one would call the Ebola pandemic a good thing, it has presented an opportunity for scientists to alert the public about the dire need to halt the spread of infectious diseases, especially in developing and densely populated areas of the world.

“What often seems like an abstract notion becomes very concrete when a deadly virus previously contained in Western Africa infects people on American soil,” said Wondwossen Gebreyes, professor of veterinary preventive medicine at The Ohio State University. “It does create a certain sense of urgency and awareness that this world is much smaller than we think.”

Gebreyes is the lead author of an article published in the Nov. 13, 2014, issue of PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases that makes the case for accelerating efforts to put “One Health” into action. One Health refers to a strategy to more fully understand and address the links between animal health, human health and the environment.

Read more at Ohio State’s research news site >>

One Health Ethiopia featured in news article

Our One Health program was mentioned yesterday by The Columbus Dispatch in an article on Ohio State’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

Here’s an excerpt:

“About 75 percent of emerging diseases originate from animals,” said Dr. Wondwossen Gebreyes, the director of the infectious-diseases molecular epidemiology laboratory. “That’s why our work in veterinary medicine is crucial, not just to save animal life but also to save human lives.”

With growing interest in that link, Ohio State now offers a degree that can be completed in four years by combining a two-year master’s in public health with a four-year doctorate in veterinary medicine. Graduates can fill the demand for veterinary experts at agriculture companies and government health departments.

“They will be detectives of diseases, from the animal side,” said Dr. Armando Hoet, the coordinator of OSU’s veterinary public-health program.

Students learn how to wear protective gear to deal with Ebola, anthrax or other infectious diseases that can pass between humans and animals. They learn about bioterrorism and that 80 percent of agents that can be used as infectious weapons spread from animals.

“We train professionals to deal with those diseases both in the animal side and human side, and to prevent transmission from one population to the other,” Hoet said.

A summer program has started sending students to Ethiopia to look for ways to help prevent the spread of rabies. Other projects study whether salmonella bacteria strains from around the globe act differently and how influenza jumps from pigs to people at Ohio county fairs.

Read the full article on the Dispatch website >>

 

 

One health summer, in review

 

By Wondwossen Gebreyes
Professor, Ohio State College of Veterinary Medicine
Chair, Ohio State One Health Task Force

This summer we had another highly successful One Health Institute. There are a number of elements that made the 2014 Summer Institute unique and satisfying.

First, I would like to thank all the Ohio State, Ethiopian as well as East African (including Kenya and Tanzania) students, staff, faculty, researchers and administrators who took part on this wonderful and productive time. I highlight below the key events and activities.

1. The 2014 One Health Summer Institute engaged more partners than in any of the previous years. We had an unprecedented 26 faculty and 32 students from more than 10 Ohio State units. We delivered numerous courses, and several key networks have been established in several areas of clinical, research and service learning aspects.

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2. We conducted clinical training mainly with spay-neuter as part of our rabies pilot project.

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3. We launched the rabies elimination pilot project with the participation of 40 key officials from various Ethiopian institutes, including academic, research, legislative and regulatory. We conducted a thorough assessment of the plan prior to launch. Other collaborating U.S. institutes, mainly CDC, played a key role in this.

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4. We hosted trainees from Kenya and Tanzania in addition to the Ethiopian trainees. As part of our NIH-Fogarty program, we also hosted 12 trainees from the three nations for 45 days of intensive training in molecular epidemiology of food borne pathogens including laboratory sessions.

5. In addition, we also witnessed memorable learning moments for everyone:

  • The University of Gondar Diamond Jubilee is the key positive moment we all witnessed.

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  • The mass pooling of all vehicles by the UOG administration and scooter travel to dairy farms around the Gondar city areas were unforgettable.
  • Flexibility in action- the breakdown of our rental van with five people from Ohio State and CDC on board that had a domino effect of triggering so many phone calls and cancellation of a Skype call on cancer partnership.

Thank you all for all the hard work by our OSU-Ethiopia One Health Task Force on both sides as well as our NIH East Africa partners from Kenya and Tanzania. Look forward for continued and sustained partnership.

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2014 One Health Summer Institute brochure posted online

 

By Christine O’Malley
Executive Director of Health Sciences

I’m happy to share that the brochure for the 2014 One Health Summer Institute is now online.

More info about the institute can be found here: https://u.osu.edu/onehealth/projects/education/summer-institute/

Or you can download the brochure by clicking on this photo:

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Town-gown partners showcase Columbus-OSU ties with Addis VIPs

By Christine O’Malley
Ohio State University
Executive Director of Health Sciences

Last week, we had a tremendous visit by 11 delegates from Addis Ababa University. The delegates met with Ohio State’s university and health sciences leaders. Many potential collaborations were discussed as we explore ways to broaden our One Health initiative.

Some of the delegates were able to visit with City of Columbus representatives. Greater Columbus sister Cities International Inc. posted this on its Facebook page:

 

 

It’s so great to have a strong town-gown partnership when Ohio State brings international guests to Columbus!

 

The business of rabies elimination in Ethiopia

By Danielle Latman
Ohio State MBA student

Seven Master of Business Administration students from Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business will visit Ethiopia for three weeks in May as the in-country portion of our Global Applied Projects class. The class is taught by Kurt Roush and advised by Professor Scott Livengood.

We are: Javed Cheema, Katie Fornadel, Carla Garver, Alejandra Iberico Lozada, Daniel Meisterman, Niraj Patel, and me, Danielle Latman. Combined, we are from three different countries, have traveled to almost 70 countries, and have 65 years experience in sales, marketing, operations, financial services, nonprofit and military industries.

From left: Katie Fornadel, Alejandra Iberico Lozada, Daniel Meisterman, Danielle Latman, Niraj Patel and Carla Garver. Not pictured: Javed Cheema.

From left: Katie Fornadel, Alejandra Iberico Lozada, Daniel Meisterman, Danielle Latman, Niraj Patel and Carla Garver. Not pictured: Javed Cheema.

The Ohio State / Ethiopia One Health Partnership asked us to harness our business skills to help operationalize the partnership’s rabies elimination project, adding a layer of practical implementation to the research and training that veterinarians and scientists have already developed. We have split up into teams focusing on the finance, marketing, operations, logistics and data collection functions of the rabies elimination project. Our goal is to develop a proposed roadmap that will allow the U.S. And Ethiopian partners to implement the rabies elimination One Health model project on a targeted region in Ethiopia.

We will travel to Ethiopia from May 1-25 to work with officials in Addis Ababa and Gondar. For the past seven weeks, we have met with the CDC, Drs. Gebreyes and O’Quinn, cultural anthropologists and social service agencies to prepare for our trip. We have also eaten at the lovely Lalibela restaurant here in Columbus, received our travel visas, and gotten a lot of shots — and were dismayed to find a shortage of the yellow fever vaccine in the U.S.!

For all of us, this will be our first time visiting Ethiopia and sub-Saharan Africa in general, and we are excited for what are sure to be many new and rich experiences! We are looking forward to exploring the natural environment of the Blue Nile Falls and Simien Mountains, driving overland from Addis Ababa to Gondar, seeing the history of ancient castles and churches, visiting marketplaces and drinking delicious coffee with each other and our new colleagues and neighbors. We are thrilled for the opportunity to contribute our business skills and passion to build on the One Health Partnership’s success and help eliminate rabies in Ethiopia.

One Health web feature — inspirational Buckeyes

By Christine O’Malley
Executive Director of Health Sciences

Our university communications team just posted this great web feature on our One Health initiative in Ethiopia:

Here’s the link to the full story:

http://www.osu.edu/features/2014/destination-ethiopia.html

Things that struck me from the video:

Cervical cancer is the second-highest cause of death in Ethiopia, yet it’s very treatable if caught early. Our cervical cancer project is working to address that.

The student interviewed, Korbin Smith, went to Ethiopia as part of the rabies project. This was a fantastic student learning experience for him and our other students. This initiative benefits both our partners in Ethiopia by improving people’s lives and our community here at Ohio State by providing international learning opportunities.

I hope you are inspired as much as I am by our faculty, students, and One Health partners.