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Volume 5, Issue 3 (Suppl) J Infect Dis Ther, an open access journal
ISSN:2332-0877 Infectious Diseases 2017
August 21-23, 2017
Page 25
Notes:
conferenceseries.com
3rd Annual Congress on
Infectious DiseasesAugust 21-23, 2017 San Francisco, USA
Cooperation in public health to fight infectious diseases in developing countries is good for the
global economy
Public health systems are not always prepared for outbreaks of infectious diseases. Although in the past several public
health institutes, like the French ‘Institut Pasteur’ and the Dutch ‘Tropeninstituut‘, were prominent surveyors of infectious
diseases, the investments in worldwide public health have decreased. Now more attention is given to curative healthcare
compared to preventive healthcare. The recent Ebola Virus Disease outbreak in West Africa initiated a new wave of interest to
invest in Worldwide Public Health to prevent outbreaks of highly contagious diseases. Zoonotic diseases are threatening as the
population does not have natural nor artificial (from vaccination) immune response to new diseases like in the Ebola Virus
Disease outbreak in 2014. The new strain of the Ebola Virus in West Africa was slightly less lethal, compared to other Ebola
Virus strains, but the threat of spreading was far bigger as it had a longer incubation time. Most public health systems are not
trained well enough to mitigate highly infectious and deadly disease outbreaks. NGO’s helping to fight the outbreak are often
better trained in curative treatments and have less experience with biological (bioweapon) threats for which the military are
trained for. The UNMEER mission was unique in this. It was a setting in which military and civilian actors cooperate in fighting
a biological threat. Protection is essential for health workers. Smart systems have to be developed to prevent further spreading
of the disease, but it is not only the biosafety, which has to be considered, but also the biosecurity, as misuse of extremely
dangerous strains of microorganisms cannot be excluded. Several zoonotic infectious diseases, like anthrax, smallpox and
haemorrhagic fevers are listed as potential bioweapons. Therefor both biosafety and biosecurity have to be implemented in all
measures to fight outbreaks of highly infectious diseases.
Biography
Stef Stienstra works internationally for several medical and biotech companies as Scientific Advisory Board Member and is also an active Reserve-Officer of the
Royal Dutch Navy in his rank as Commander (OF4). For the Dutch Armed Forces, he is CBRNe Specialist with focus on (micro) biological and chemical threats
and Medical- And Environmental Functional Specialist within the 1st CMI (Civil Military Interaction) Battalion of the Dutch Armed Forces. For Expertise France, he
is now managing an EU CBRN CoE public health project in West Africa. In his civilian position, he is at this moment developing with MT-Derm in Berlin (Germany)
a novel interdermal vaccination technology as well as a new therapy for cutaneous leishmaniasis for which he has won a Canadian Grand Challenge grant. With
Hemanua in Dublin (Ireland), he has developed an innovative blood separation unit, which is also suitable to produce convalescent plasma for Ebola virus disease
therapy. He has finished both his studies in Medicine and in Biochemistry in the Netherlands with a Doctorate and has extensive practical experience in cell biology,
immuno-haematology, infectious diseases, biodefense and transfusion medicine.
Stef Stienstra
Royal Dutch Armed Forces, Netherlands
Stef Stienstra, J Infect Dis Ther 2017, 5:3 (Suppl)
DOI: 10.4172/2332-0877-C1-025