Last data update: May 16, 2025. (Total: 49299 publications since 2009)
Records 1-3 (of 3 Records) |
Query Trace: Grills AW[original query] |
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On alert for Ebola: public health risk assessment of travellers from Uganda to the U.S. during the 2022 outbreak
Fowler JJ , Preston LE , Gearhart SL , Figueroa A , LChristensen D , Mitchell C , Hernandez E , Grills AW , Morrison SM , Wilkinson M , Talib T , Marie Lavilla K , Watson T , Mitcham D , Nash R , Veguilla MAC , Hansen S , Cohen NJ , Nu Clarke SA , Smithson A , Shearer E , Pella DG , Morris JD , Meehan S , Aboukheir M , Adams K , Sunavala Z , Conley J , Abouattier M , Palo M , Pimentel LC , Berro A , Mainzer H , Byrkit R , Kim D , Katebi V , Alvarado-Ramy F , Roohi S , Wojno AE , Brown CM , Gertz AM . J Travel Med 2024 31 (5) BACKGROUND: On 20 September 2022, the Ugandan Ministry of Health declared an outbreak of Ebola disease caused by Sudan ebolavirus. METHODS: From 6 October 2022 to 10 January 2023, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff conducted public health assessments at five US ports of entry for travellers identified as having been in Uganda in the past 21 days. CDC also recommended that state, local and territorial health departments ('health departments') conduct post-arrival monitoring of these travellers. CDC provided traveller contact information, daily to 58 health departments, and collected health department data regarding monitoring outcomes. RESULTS: Among 11 583 travellers screened, 132 (1%) required additional assessment due to potential exposures or symptoms of concern. Fifty-three (91%) health departments reported receiving traveller data from CDC for 10 114 (87%) travellers, of whom 8499 (84%) were contacted for monitoring, 1547 (15%) could not be contacted and 68 (1%) had no reported outcomes. No travellers with high-risk exposures or Ebola disease were identified. CONCLUSION: Entry risk assessment and post-arrival monitoring of travellers are resource-intensive activities that had low demonstrated yield during this and previous outbreaks. The efficiency of future responses could be improved by incorporating an assessment of risk of importation of disease, accounting for individual travellers' potential for exposure, and expanded use of methods that reduce burden to federal agencies, health departments, and travellers. |
Impact of effective global tuberculosis control on health and economic outcomes in the United States
Menzies NA , Bellerose M , Testa C , Swartwood N , Malyuta Y , Cohen T , Marks SM , Hill AN , Date AA , Maloney SA , Bowden SE , Grills AW , Salomon JA . Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2020 202 (11) 1567-1575 RATIONALE: Most United States residents who develop tuberculosis were born abroad, and US TB incidence is increasingly driven by infection risks in other countries. OBJECTIVES: To estimate the potential impact of effective global TB control on health and economic outcomes in the United States. METHODS: We estimated outcomes using linked mathematical models of TB epidemiology in the United States and migrants' birth countries. A base-case scenario extrapolated country-specific TB incidence trends. We compared this to scenarios in which countries achieve 90% TB incidence reductions between 2015 and 2035, as targeted by the Global End TB Strategy ("effective global TB control"). We also considered pessimistic scenarios of flat TB incidence trends in individual countries. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We estimated TB cases, TB deaths, costs, and the total economic burden of TB in the US. Compared to the base-case, effective global TB control would avert 40,000 (95% uncertainty interval: 29,000-55,000) TB cases in the United States over 2020-2035. TB incidence rates in 2035 would be 43% (34-54) lower than the base-case, and 49% (44-55) lower than in 2020. Summed over 2020-2035, this represents $0.8 (0.6-1.0) billion dollars in averted healthcare costs and $2.5 (1.7-3.6) billion in productivity gains. The total US economic burden of TB (including the value of averted TB deaths) would be 21% (16-28) lower ($18 (8-32) billion). CONCLUSIONS: In addition to producing major health benefits for high-burden countries, strengthened efforts to achieve effective global TB control could produce substantial health and economic benefits for the United States. |
Elevation as a proxy for mosquito-borne Zika virus transmission in the Americas
Watts AG , Miniota J , Joseph HA , Brady OJ , Kraemer MUG , Grills AW , Morrison S , Esposito DH , Nicolucci A , German M , Creatore MI , Nelson B , Johansson MA , Brunette G , Hay SI , Khan K , Cetron M . PLoS One 2017 12 (5) e0178211 INTRODUCTION: When Zika virus (ZIKV) first began its spread from Brazil to other parts of the Americas, national-level travel notices were issued, carrying with them significant economic consequences to affected countries. Although regions of some affected countries were likely unsuitable for mosquito-borne transmission of ZIKV, the absence of high quality, timely surveillance data made it difficult to confidently demarcate infection risk at a sub-national level. In the absence of reliable data on ZIKV activity, a pragmatic approach was needed to identify subnational geographic areas where the risk of ZIKV infection via mosquitoes was expected to be negligible. To address this urgent need, we evaluated elevation as a proxy for mosquito-borne ZIKV transmission. METHODS: For sixteen countries with local ZIKV transmission in the Americas, we analyzed (i) modelled occurrence of the primary vector for ZIKV, Aedes aegypti, (ii) human population counts, and (iii) reported historical dengue cases, specifically across 100-meter elevation levels between 1,500m and 2,500m. Specifically, we quantified land area, population size, and the number of observed dengue cases above each elevation level to identify a threshold where the predicted risks of encountering Ae. aegypti become negligible. RESULTS: Above 1,600m, less than 1% of each country's total land area was predicted to have Ae. aegypti occurrence. Above 1,900m, less than 1% of each country's resident population lived in areas where Ae. aegypti was predicted to occur. Across all 16 countries, 1.1% of historical dengue cases were reported above 2,000m. DISCUSSION: These results suggest low potential for mosquito-borne ZIKV transmission above 2,000m in the Americas. Although elevation is a crude predictor of environmental suitability for ZIKV transmission, its constancy made it a pragmatic input for policy decision-making during this public health emergency. |
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