Keeping Ahead of Measles, Bird Flu and Other Serious Outbreak Threats

Rising measles and bird flu (H5N1) infections continue to make headlines, causing concern and uncertainty for many healthcare professionals. As infections rise, many clinicians across the country and the world are asking: What’s next? In this presentation, Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH, Director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University School of Public Health, will review the recent outbreaks of measles and bird flu in the U.S., along with the current risk of these viruses. In addition, attendees will leave the presentation with a better understanding of other serious pathogens with epidemic potential and the risk they pose for future outbreaks.

Who can attend

Registration is limited to ISMIE and SEMPIC policyholders, ISMS members, and their employed staff.

Learning objectives

At the conclusion of this learning activity, participants will be able to:

• Summarize the recent epidemiology of measles and bird flu (H5N1) outbreaks in the U.S.
• Describe the current risks of these viruses, including potential for severe clinical disease
• Summarize the potential risk for future outbreaks posed by these and other serious pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential

About the presenter

Jennifer Nuzzo, DrPH, is a Professor of Epidemiology and Director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University School of Public Health. An epidemiologist by training, her work focuses on global health security, public health preparedness and response and health systems resilience. Together with colleagues from the Nuclear Threat Initiative and Economist Impact, she co-leads the development of the first-ever Global Health Security Index, which benchmarks 195 countries’ public health and healthcare capacities and capabilities, their commitment to international norms and global health security financing, and socioeconomic, political, and environmental risk environments. She also founded the Outbreak Observatory, which conducts, in partnership with frontline public health practitioners, operational research to improve outbreak preparedness and response. Prior to coming to Brown, Dr. Nuzzo was an Associate Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She was also a Senior Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

In addition to her scholarly work, Dr. Nuzzo regularly advises national governments and for-profit and nonprofit organizations on pandemic preparedness and response, including COVID-19. She is a pandemic advisor for Impact Assets’ Stop the Spread Campaign. She is currently a member of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s (NASEM) Standing Committee for CDC Center for Preparedness and Response. She has also served as a member of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s National Drinking Water Advisory Council (NDWAC) and the NDWAC’s Water Security Working Group, and as a project advisor for the American Water Works Association Research Foundation (now called the Water Research Foundation), a primary funding organization for drinking water research in the United States.

Dr. Nuzzo regularly engages with media to educate and inform about emerging health security trends. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, Fox News, Politico, The Hill, and The Boston Globe. She was featured in Debunking Borat, a television series on Amazon Prime Video, and her work was featured on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. She served as Covid Advisor for the Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.

Dr. Nuzzo received a DrPH in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an SM in environmental health from Harvard University, and a BS in environmental sciences from Rutgers University.

Accreditation

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the Illinois State Medical Society and ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company. The Illinois State Medical Society is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Credit Designation

The Illinois State Medical Society designates this live activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Disclosure

There are no relevant financial relationships with ACCME-defined commercial interests for anyone who was in control of the content of this activity.