EMERGING PANDEMIC THREATS (EPT) PROGRAM
Overview
Indonesia is situated in a hot spot region for emerging
and re-emerging infectious diseases due to the climate,
biodiversity, and close interaction of people and wildlife.
Additionally potential drivers or emerging pandemic
disease, such as population pressures, changing
habitats, economic growth, food security, and
globalization, exist in Indonesia.
The EPT Program launched in Indonesia in July 2011 and
is part of a commitment by the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) to preempt or combat
newly emerging diseases that could spark future
pandemics.
Strategy
Nearly 75 percent of all new emerging or re-emerging
pandemic diseases affecting human at the beginning of
the 21st century have originated in animals. The EPT
program therefore emphasizes early identification of and
response to dangerous pathogens in animals before they
can become significant threats to human health. Key
projects of the EPT Program are: PREDICT, RESPOND,
IDENTIFY, and PREVENT.
Consumption of wild birds or
other bush meat is a common
practice for communities who
live close to the forest. This is a
potential route for emerging
infectious disease transmission
from animals to humans (Photo:
PREDICT Document)
PREDICT
Through PREDICT, USAID, international and national
partners increase local capacities in hot-spot area to
identify the emergence of new infectious diseases in highrisk wildlife such as non-human primates, bats, and rodents
that could pose a major threat to human health. In
Indonesia, PREDICT, coordinated by the Director of the
Primate Research Center at Bogor Agricultural University
(PRC-IPB), and involves Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry
of Agriculture (MOA), Ministry of Forestry (MOF), Eijkman
Institute for Molecular Biology, the Indonesian National
Institute of Science (LIPI), the National Committee on
Zoonosis Control, and several universities. In order to
strengthen and improve lab system for sample analysis,
PREDICT Indonesia conducted it's first large scale wildlife
sampling in the National Park and markets in Northern
Sulawesi. Samples were collected from bats and rats and
are now being tested at IPB for a range of emerging virus
families. Testing of human samples from cases of fever of
unknown origin is underway at the Eijkman Institute of
Molecular Biology to look for the presence of and changes
in viral families known to jump from animals to humans. The
Eijkman Institute opened a new Emerging and Arbovirus
Research Laboratory in early 2013 with support of
PREDICT and CDC.
RESPOND
This project focuses on Indonesian institutions including
universities to strengthen their capacities to prepare
cadres of professional to identify and respond to
outbreaks of newly emergent diseases in a timely and
sustainable manner.
Indonesian One Health University Network (INDOHUN) meeting. INDONHUN is a
network of academics (faculties of medicine, public health, veterinary medicine,
and nursing), professional associations, and government services who seek to
strengthen Indonesia’s capacity to identify and respond to outbreaks of emerging
and remerging diseases (Photo: USAID Indonesia EPT Program Document)
Indonesia currently chairs the South East Asia One
Health University Network (SEAOHUN) which is a
partnership of universities in Indonesia, Vietnam,
Malaysia, and Thailand to promote and advance the One
Health approach for control of emerging and re-emerging
infectious and zoonotic diseases in this Asian region.
Indonesia One Health University Network (INDOHUN) is
*February 2013
a nationwide effort of 16 universities to establish a
network to strengthen Indonesia’s capacity to identify and
respond to outbreaks of emergent diseases quickly and
effectively through integrated curriculum development,
surveillance, and outbreak response. The RESPOND
Project supported the Sixth TEPHINET Southeast Asia
and Western Pacific Bi-regional Scientific Conference
which was hosted by the Government of Indonesia in
Bali, on November 2011. This forum facilitated scientific
exchange on key public and animal health issues across
the region. In collaboration with CDC Atlanta, RESPOND
Project supports the Field Epidemiology Training Program
(FETP) in Indonesia. An in-service training program
involving PUSDIKLAT, a training center under Ministry of
Health (MOH) or Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), will be
established to institutionalize surveillance and outbreak
response capacity building, especially for the government
field officers and forest rangers. This will be conducted in
South Sulawesi partnering with Australian Agency for
International Development (AusAID).
the way people live and their practices to develop
interventions to be shared with governments, NGOs and
other stakeholders. PREVENT undertakes research to
better understand risks associated with legal and illegal
trade in key species of wild animals and mitigate risks.
Extractive industries represent an important driver of
potential emerging pandemic threats through land-use
and human settlement changes that increase humananimal contacts. PREVENT is working with
representatives of industry and finance to prevent or
mitigate the risks associated with land use and population
changes arising from extractive industry activities.
PREVENT will undertake research to characterize
possible risks and local staff are being hired. A desk
study looking at extractive industry, cultural and marketbased drivers, in these designed geographic areas, has
been completed. PREVENT will expand explorations of
program and policy options to reduce emergent risks for
pandemic threats.
IDENTIFY
The IDENTIFY project helps enhance capacity of
laboratories, in the public-health and animal-health
sectors, to detect and manage emerging and zoonotic
pathogens. This project is implemented by the U.N. Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World
Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and the U.N. World
Health Organization (WHO). This project will provide
sustainable inputs for: developing guidance and policy
for national laboratories; promoting laboratory quality;
strengthening laboratory capacity; and enhancing
laboratory networking in country and regionally.
Mining, logging, and plantation contribute to the local and national economic
growth. On another hand, changing habitat and the ecosystem will drive new
emerging and re-emerging pandemic threats (Photo: PREDICT)
U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC)
The CDC is a key partner for the EPT program. The CDC
National Center for Emerging & Zoonotic Diseases
provides support to strengthen pathogen detection and
discovery for arboviruses. CDC supports MOH to
strengthen outbreak response and the Field Epidemiology
Training Program.
USAID-DELIVER
Strengthening of laboratory networks within and across sectors along with
meaningful investments in regional and national capacity building will result in
more accurate and timely identification of pathogens threatening animal and
human health (Photo: FAO Document)
PREVENT
The PREVENT project aims to increase understanding of
the important drivers of emerging pandemic threats
involving cultural, market-based, and major landuse/extractive industry related factors. To address the
cultural drivers, PREVENT is developing tools for
measuring presumptively risky exposure to animals from
USAID’s existing DELIVER Project will support these EPT
Projects by providing commodity procurement and logistic
assistance for preparedness and response to emerging
pandemic threats. Currently JSI provides support to the
Ministry of Health to improve logistics and laboratory
management of the influenza related surveillance
network.
For further information please contact:
USAID Indonesia Health Office EPT Program
Dr. Kendra Chittenden, email: kchittenden@usaid.gov
Phone 62-21-3435-9323
*February 2013