B
Glossary
Abiotic: Nonliving chemical and physical factors in an environment.
Aerosolize: To disperse (as a medicine, bactericide, or insecticide) as an aerosol.
African swine fever: A highly contagious tick-borne hemorrhagic disease of pigs, warthogs, European wild boar, and American wild pigs. With high-virulence forms of the virus, it is characterized by high fever, loss of appetite, hemorrhages in the skin and internal organs, and death in 2 to 10 days on average. Mortality rates may be as high as 100 percent. It is caused by a DNA virus of the Asfarviridae family.
Agent (of disease): Factor such as a microorganism whose presence is essential for the occurrence of a disease.
Anthropogenic: Caused or produced by humans.
Anthroponotic: Transmission from human to human and potentially from human to animal.
Antibiotic: Class of substances that can kill or inhibit the growth of some groups of microorganisms. Used in this report to refer to chemicals active against bacteria. Originally antibiotics were derived from natural sources (e.g., penicillin from molds), but many currently used antibiotics are semi-
synthetic and modified with additions of man-made chemical components. See Antimicrobials.
Antibiotic resistance: Property of bacteria that confers the capacity to inactivate or exclude antibiotics or a mechanism that blocks the inhibitory or killing effects of antibiotics.
Antibody: A protein produced by the immune system in response to the introduction of a substance (an antigen) recognized as foreign by the body’s immune system. Antibody interacts with the other components of the immune system and can render the antigen harmless, although for various reasons this may not always occur.
Antimicrobials: Class of substances that can destroy or inhibit the growth of pathogenic groups of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi.
Asymptomatic: Presenting no symptoms of disease.
Avian influenza: Any of several highly variable diseases of domestic and wild birds that are caused by orthomyxoviruses and characterized usually by respiratory symptoms but sometimes by gastrointestinal, integumentary, and urogenital symptoms.
Bacteria: Microscopic, single-celled organisms that have some biochemical and structural features different from those of animal and plant cells.
Bushmeat: Wildlife species that are hunted in the “bush” or forests.
Chikungunya: A febrile disease that resembles dengue, occurs especially in parts of Africa, India, and southeastern Asia, and is caused by a togavirus of the genus Alphavirus (species Chikungunya virus) transmitted by mosquitoes especially of the genus Aedes—called also chikungunya fever.
Cholera: Any of several diseases of humans and domestic animals usually marked by severe gastrointestinal symptoms; an acute diarrheal disease caused by an enterotoxin produced by a comma-shaped Gram-negative bacillus of the genus Vibrio (V. cholerae syn. V. comma) when it is present in large numbers in the proximal part of the human small intestine.
Civil society: A social sphere separate from both the state and the market. The increasingly accepted understanding of the term civil society organizations (CSOs) is that of nonstate, not-for-profit, voluntary organizations
formed by people in that social sphere. This term is used to describe a wide range of organizations, networks, associations, groups, and movements that are independent from government and that sometimes come together to advance their common interests through collective action. (See http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story006/en [accessed April 18, 2016].)
Climate: Average meteorological conditions over a specified time period, usually at least a month, resulting from interactions among the atmosphere, ocean, and land surface. Climate variations occur over a wide range of spatial and temporal scales.
Climate change: A change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.
Communicable disease: An infectious disease transmissible (as from person to person) by direct contact with an infected individual or the individual’s discharges or by indirect means (as by a vector).
Coronavirus: Any of a family (Coronaviridae) of single-stranded RNA viruses that have a lipid envelope with club-shaped projections and include some causing respiratory symptoms in humans.
Cytokine: Any of a class of immunoregulatory proteins (as interleukin, tumor necrosis factor, and interferon) that are secreted by cells, especially of the immune system.
Dengue fever: An acute infectious disease that is characterized by headache, severe joint pain, and a rash and that is caused by a single-stranded RNA virus of the genus Flavivirus (species Dengue virus) transmitted by mosquitoes of the genus Aedes—also called breakbone fever and dandy fever.
Disease: As used in this report, refers to a situation in which infection has elicited signs and symptoms in the infected individual; the infection has become clinically apparent.
Dual use research of concern: In the life sciences, research that, based on current understanding, can be reasonably anticipated to provide knowledge, information, products, or technologies that could be directly misapplied to pose a significant threat with broad potential consequences to public health and safety, agricultural crops and other plants, animals, the environment, materiel, or national security.
Ebola: A disease caused by the Ebola virus. Also called Ebola virus disease and Ebola hemorrhagic fever.
Ecosystem: Mutually interrelated communities of species and abiotic components, existing as a system with specific interactions and exchange of matter, energy, and information.
Emerging infection(s): Any infectious disease that has come to medical attention within the past two decades or for which there is a threat that its prevalence will increase in the near future. Many times, such diseases exist in nature as zoonoses and emerge as human pathogens only when humans come into contact with a formerly isolated animal population, such as monkeys in a rain forest that are no longer isolated because of deforestation. Drug-resistant organisms could also be included as the cause of emerging infections since they exist because of human influence. Some recent examples of agents responsible for emerging infections include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Ebola virus, multidrug resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and influenza A (H1N1).
Emerging infectious diseases: Infections that are rapidly increasing in incidence or geographic range.
Endemic: Present in a community or common among a group of people; said of a disease prevailing continually in a region.
Enzootic: A disease of low morbidity that is constantly present in an animal community.
Epidemic: The condition in which a disease spreads rapidly through a community in which that disease is normally not present or is present at a low level.
Epidemiology: Study of the distribution and determinants of health-related states or events in specified populations. Epidemiology is the basic quantitative science of public health.
Epizootic: A disease of high morbidity that is only occasionally present in an animal community.
Eradication: Reduction of the worldwide incidence of a disease to zero as a result of deliberate efforts.
Etiologic agent: The organism that causes a disease.
Etiological: Of or pertaining to causes or origins.
Etiology: Science and study of the causes of diseases and their mode of operation.
Extrinsic incubation period: Time required for the development of a disease agent in a vector from the time of uptake of the agent to the time the vector is infective.
Fragile state: A region or state that has weak capacity to carry out basic governance functions and lacks the ability to develop mutually constructive relations with society. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, fragile states are also more vulnerable to internal or external shocks such as economic crises or natural disasters.
G7: The Group of Seven. Comprises seven leading industrialized nations: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In addition, the European Union sends representatives to all the meetings.
G7 Summit: The summits give the G7 heads of state and government the opportunity to discuss their respective positions in personal meetings. A summit declaration containing the key outcomes is issued at the end of each summit meeting, sometimes along with additional reports and action plans.
Global Fund: The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. A 21st-century partnership organization designed to accelerate the end of AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria as epidemics. Founded in 2002, the Global Fund is a partnership among governments, civil society, the private sector, and people affected by the diseases. The Global Fund raises and invests nearly $4 billion per year to support programs run by local experts in countries and communities most in need.
Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA): A unifying framework to improve our global response to disease outbreaks and close gaps in surveillance and response so that disease threats are stopped at the earliest possible opportunity. It builds on existing programs and policies to improve health and spurs progress toward full implementation of the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Performance of Veterinary Services (PVS) Pathway, and other relevant global health security frameworks. (See http://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/healthprotection/ghs/faqs.htm#two [accessed April 18, 2016].)
Global Public Health Intelligence Network (GPHIN): A secure Internet-based multilingual early-warning tool that continuously searches global media sources such as news wires and websites to identify information about disease outbreaks and other events of potential international public health concern. Developed by Health Canada in collaboration with WHO.
Globalization: The increased interconnectedness and interdependence of peoples and countries. It is generally understood to include two interrelated elements: the opening of borders to increasingly fast flows of goods, services, finance, people, and ideas across international borders; and the changes in institutional and policy regimes at the international and national levels that facilitate or promote such flows. (See http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story043/en/index.html [accessed April 18, 2016].)
Hantavirus: Any of a genus (Hantavirus) of bunyaviruses (as the Hantaan virus) that are transmitted by rodent feces and urine and cause hantavirus pulmonary syndrome and hemorrhagic fevers marked by renal necrosis.
Health security: Public health security. (1) The provision and maintenance of measures aimed at preserving and protecting the health of the population. (2) The policy areas in which national security and public health concerns overlap. (See http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story030/en [accessed April 18, 2016].)
Herd immunity: A reduction in the probability of infection that is held to apply to susceptible members of a population in which a significant proportion of the individuals are immune because the chance of coming in contact with an infected individual is less.
Host (disease): Person or other living animal that affords subsistence or lodgment to an infectious agent under natural conditions.
Immune-competence: The ability of the immune system to respond appropriately to an antigenic stimulation.
Immunoassay: A technique or test (as the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) used to detect the presence or quantity of a substance (as a protein) based on its capacity to act as an antigen or antibody.
Immunocompromised: A condition (caused, for example, by the administration of immunosuppressive drugs or irradiation, malnutrition, aging, or a condition such as cancer or HIV disease) in which an individual’s immune system is unable to respond adequately to a foreign substance.
Incidence: Number of cases of a disease commencing, or of persons falling ill, during a given period of time in a specified population. Incidence rate is the number of new cases of a specific disease diagnosed or reported during a defined interval of time divided by the number of all persons in a defined population during the same time.
Index case: An instance of a disease or a genetically determined condition that is discovered first and leads to the discovery of others in a family or population.
Infection: The invasion of the body or a part of the body by a pathogenic agent, such as a microorganism or virus. Under favorable conditions the agent develops or multiplies, the results of which may produce injurious effects. Infection should not be confused with disease.
Influenza: An acute highly contagious virus disease that is caused by various strains of orthomyxoviruses belonging to three major types now considered as three separate genera and that is characterized by sudden onset fever, prostration, severe aches and pains, and progressive inflammation of the respiratory mucous membrane—often used with the letter A, B, or C to denote disease caused by a virus of a specific one of the three genera; any human respiratory infection of undetermined cause—not used technically; any of numerous febrile, usually virus, diseases of domestic animals (as shipping fever of horses and swine influenza) marked by respiratory symptoms, inflammation of mucous membranes, and often systemic involvement.
Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC): The primary mechanism for inter-agency coordination of humanitarian assistance. It is a unique forum involving the key UN and non-UN humanitarian partners. The IASC was established in June 1992 in response to United Nations General Assembly Resolution 46/182 on the strengthening of humanitarian assistance.
Intermediate host: A host that is normally used by a parasite in the course of its life cycle and in which it may multiply asexually but not sexually.
International Health Regulations (IHR): An international legal instrument that is binding on 194 countries across the globe, including all the member states of WHO. Their aim is to help the international community prevent and respond to acute public health risks that have the potential to cross borders and threaten people worldwide. The IHR, which entered into force on June 15, 2007, requires countries to report certain disease outbreaks and public health events to WHO. Building on the unique experience of WHO in global disease surveillance, alert, and response, the IHR defines
the rights and obligations of countries to report public health events, and establishes a number of procedures that WHO must follow in its work to uphold global public health security.
Lassa: A disease especially of Africa that is caused by the Lassa virus and is characterized by a high fever, headaches, mouth ulcers, muscle aches, small hemorrhages under the skin, heart and kidney failure, and a high mortality rate.
Microbe: A microorganism or biologic agent that can replicate in humans (including bacteria, viruses, protozoa, fungi, and prions).
Microbial threat: Microbes that lead to disease in humans.
Microbiology: A branch of biology dealing especially with microscopic forms of life.
Migration: The regular, usually seasonal, movement of all or part of an animal population to and from a given area.
Millennium Development Goals: Eight international development goals that were established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. These goals—which range from halving extreme poverty rates to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015—form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions. They have galvanized unprecedented efforts to meet the needs of the world’s poorest.
Mitigation: Initiatives that reduce the risk from natural and man-made hazards. With respect to climate change, mitigation usually refers to actions taken to reduce the emissions or enhance the sinks of greenhouse gases.
Morbidity: Diseased condition or state.
Mortality: The number of deaths in a given time or place; the proportion of deaths to population.
Mutation: Genetic change that can occur either randomly or at an accelerated rate through exposure to radiation or certain chemicals (mutagens) and may lead to change in structure of the protein coded by the mutated gene.
Nipah virus infection: A newly emerging zoonosis that causes severe disease in both animals and humans. The natural host of the virus are fruit bats of the Pteropodidae family, Pteropus genus. (See http://www.who.int/csr/disease/nipah/en [accessed April 18, 2016].)
OECD countries: The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development member countries. On December 14, 1960, 20 countries originally signed the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Since then, 14 countries have become members of the Organisation. (See http://www.oecd.org/about/membersandpartners/listoecd-member-countries.htm [accessed April 18, 2016].)
One Health: The collaborative effort of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals, and our environment.
Outbreak: Localized occurrence as opposed to a generalized epidemic.
Pandemic: Epidemic occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population.
Pathogen: Organism capable of causing disease. Pathogenic: Capable of causing disease.
Pathology: The branch of medicine concerned with disease, especially its structure and its functional effects on the body.
Phylogeny: The connections between all groups of organisms as understood by ancestor/descendant relationships.
Physiochemical: Of or relating to physiological chemistry.
Prevalence: Proportion of persons in a population currently affected by a particular disease. Prevalence rate is the number of cases of a specific disease at a particular time divided by the population at that time living in the same region.
Program for Monitoring Emerging Diseases (ProMED): An Internet-based reporting system dedicated to rapid global dissemination of information on outbreaks of infectious diseases and acute exposures to toxins that affect human health, including those in animals and in plants grown for food or animal feed.
Prophylaxis: Measures designed to preserve health (as of an individual or of society) and prevent the spread of disease.
Public health: The art and science of dealing with the protection and improvement of community health by organized community effort and including preventive medicine and sanitary and social health.
Public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC): An extraordinary event that is determined: (1) to constitute a public health risk to other states through the international spread of disease; and (2) to potentially require a coordinated international response. This definition implies a situation that is serious, unusual, or unexpected; carries implications for public health beyond the affected state’s national border; and may require immediate international action.
Quarantine: The enforced isolation or restriction of free movement imposed to prevent the spread of a contagious disease.
Retrovirus: Any of large family of RNA viruses that includes lentiviruses and oncoviruses, so called because they carry reverse transcriptase.
Risk: Probability that an event will occur; a measure of the degree of loss expected by the occurrence of a loss.
Species barrier: Difficulty or impossibility for an infectious agent to pass from one species to another (due to differences between species).
Surveillance: Used in this workshop summary to refer to data collection and record keeping to track the emergence and spread of disease-causing organisms such as antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Sustainable Development Goals: A new agenda for 2030, building off of the Millenium Development Goals, consisting of 17 goals and 169 targets to realize the human rights of all and to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. They are designed to stimulate action over the next 15 years in areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet.
Syndrome: A group or recognizable pattern of symptoms or abnormalities that indicate a particular trait or disease. (See http://www.genome.gov/glossary.cfm?key=syndrome [accessed April 18, 2016].)
Transmission: Process by which a pathogen passes from a source of infection to a new host.
Vaccine: A preparation of living, attenuated, or killed bacteria or viruses, fractions thereof, or synthesized or recombinant antigens identical or similar to those found in the disease-causing organism that is administered to raise immunity to a particular microorganism.
Vector: An organism, such as an insect, that transmits a pathogen from one host to another.
Vector-borne: Transmitted from one host to another by a vector.
Vector-borne disease: (1) Mechanical: This includes simple mechanical carriage by a crawling or flying insect through soiling of its feet or proboscis or by passage of organisms through its gastrointestinal tract. This does not require multiplication or development of the organism. (2) Biological: Propagation (multiplication), cyclic development, or a combination of these (cyclopropagative) is required before the arthropod can transmit the infective form of the agent to humans. An incubation period (extrinsic) is required following infection before the arthropod becomes infective. The infectious agent may be passed vertically to succeeding generations (trans-ovarian transmission); transstadial transmission indicates its passage from one stage of the life cycle to another, as nymph to adult. Transmission may be by injection of salivary gland fluid during biting, or by regurgitation or deposition on the skin of feces or other material capable of penetrating the bite wound or an area of trauma from scratching or rubbing. This transmission is by an infected nonvertebrate host and not simple mechanical carriage by a vector or vehicle. However, an arthropod in either role is termed a vector.
Viremia: The presence of virus in the blood of a host.
Virulence: The ability of any infectious agent to produce disease. The virulence of a microorganism (such as a bacterium or virus) is a measure of the severity of the disease it is capable of causing.
West Nile virus: A flavivirus (genus Flavivirus) that causes an illness marked by fever, headache, muscle ache, skin rash, and sometimes encephalitis or meningitis that is spread chiefly by mosquitoes and that is closely related to the viruses causing Japanese B encephalitis and Saint Louis encephalitis.
World Bank: The World Bank Group. One of the world’s largest sources of funding and knowledge for developing countries, consisting of five institutions with a common commitment to reducing poverty, increasing shared prosperity, and promoting sustainable development
Zoonotic infection: Infection that causes disease in human populations but can be perpetuated solely in nonhuman host animals (e.g., bubonic plague); may be enzootic.
