The connections between zoonotic diseases, animal agriculture and human health will be examined at an international, multi-disciplinary symposium, organized by Farm Foundation, NFP. The symposium will be Sept. 23-24, 2010, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Washington, D.C. Review the current conference program. Zoonoses are transmissible diseases shared by humans and animals.
“The recent H1N1 outbreak is one in a long series of disease outbreaks that has raised questions about the relationship between the diseases, agricultural production 
systems and human health,” says Farm Foundation, NFP Vice President Sheldon Jones. “An understanding of the risks and interactions is critical to health professionals working with humans and animals, policy makers and regulators. This symposium is designed to help build a systematic knowledge of those relationships.”
The symposium is targeted to the broad cross-section of professionals involved in the prevention and management of zoonotic diseases—public health officials, epidemiologists, virologists, veterinarians, agriculture producer groups and media representatives, particularly those responsible for health, science and agricultural coverage.
“Each profession has a key role in the prevention or management of a zoonotic disease outbreak,” says symposium coordinator H.L. Goodwin of the University of Arkansas. “Yet none of the professions can work in isolation. The need to collaborate is critical as they work to identify critical risk points, improve the effectiveness of surveillance and monitoring programs, and make decisions on quarantines and trade restrictions.”
The symposium is a program of Farm Foundation, NFP with support provided by USDA’s Animal, Plant Health Inspection Service and Economic Research Service; Hormel Foods; CHS Foundation; Texas A&M University’s National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense; American Farm Bureau Federation; Iowa State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Cargill; United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization; Progressive Farmer; Kansas State University Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases; the National Assembly of State Animal Health Officials; the U.S. Animal Health Association; and the American Veterinary Medical Association.
The program is designed to clarify specific issues in the relationships between animal agriculture and human health, broaden understanding of the relationship between diverse production systems and practices and zoonotic diseases, and identify questions that need more research or attention.
While substantial research on zoonoses exists within individual disciplines, much of it is focused on individual diseases. Research is lacking that can provide a holistic understanding of the relationship between agricultural production systems, zoonotic disease and human health.
To build the symposium program, Farm Foundation brought together a diverse planning committee of representatives from academia, the veterinary health community, public health agencies, livestock production and the media. The resulting program features experts from multiple disciplines and from around the world. The program emphasizes the need for science-based and cohesive communication between the multiple disciplines involved in any disease outbreak.
The symposium’s holistic examination of the issues will provide a unique opportunity for experts from diverse disciplines to discuss the relationships between zoonoses, animal production systems and human health.
In addition to the program sessions, the symposium will feature a poster session, with abstracts to be evaluated in three areas: wildlife populations, commercial animal agricultural systems, and human health concerns.