UP creates program on zoonotic diseases

The University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) has created a new program dedicated to the study of zoonotic diseases, such as COVID-19, to equip and protect the country against existing and emerging illnesses that can be transmitted between humans and animals.

The Program for Zoonotic Diseases will tap experts from different disciplines—from natural sciences to social sciences—to study these diseases before their emergence, as well as their impact during and after potential outbreaks in both human and animal populations.

Dr. Jezie Acorda, the dean of the UPLB College of Veterinary Medicine who will serve as interim program director, said the creation of the program was the first step toward the ultimate goal of creating a National Zoonoses Center in the country.

“We want to establish this institution to provide science-based understanding on how these diseases spread,” he said in an interview on Thursday.

“Nowadays … when the epidemic or when this disease comes, that’s when we do a response. But we don’t have surveillance or preventive [measures],” Acorda added.

‘We need to be prepared’

According to him, they envision the center to become the leading zoonotic diseases center in Southeast Asia.

“We hope that this will be able to generate science-based evidence to help the government in formulating policies,” Acorda said.

“Science is telling us that this is not the last disease like this and many more will emerge in the future … We’ll be engaging in this war from here on, so we need to be prepared.”

The proposal for the zoonoses center was conceptualized at the height of the first implementation of the enhanced community quarantine last year. It was the brainchild of National Scientist Emil Javier, former UP president and UPLB chancellor.

Based on the proposal, the center “will be equipped for the performance of advanced and innovative research techniques on identification and characterization of viral, bacterial, fungal and parasitic agents, arthropod biology and control, laboratory animal models, wildlife research and zoonotic disease risk analysis.”

It will have eight divisions, namely microbial research; parasite and vector biology and control; pathology and diagnostics; epidemiology and data science; zoonoses prevention and control; food and feed safety; science communication; and animal research service unit. The center also aims to have the capacity to develop vaccines and drugs to prevent and control the spread of these diseases.

Approved

The UP Board of Regents, the highest decision-making body of the state university system, approved the program in March this year.

Acorda said the program would support and enhance ongoing zoonoses-related research in the university, such as avian influenza, rabies, and parasites present in cats and dogs.

Funding will be sourced from the UP system for the first year of the program. But as it evolves into a center in the next few months or the next year, government agencies and other sources will be tapped for funds.

“We are looking at billions [of pesos], not only millions for this effort, because we will be looking at the whole aspect of these diseases,” Acorda said.

Outside the UP system, there are two other initiatives focused on emerging diseases: A transboundary animal disease center is set to rise in the Central Luzon State University, which will be funded by the Department of Agriculture, while a virology science and technology institute will be established by the Department of Science and Technology.

What sets the UPLB’s envisioned center apart is its interdisciplinary approach, said Acorda.

“We want to tap the whole capability of the university,” he said, adding that they would also partner with government agencies for this effort. “We will not only look at the technical aspect, but the behavioral and economic aspect of this disease.”