# An Integrated One Health Approach to Detect and Respond to Emerging Disease Threats in High-Risk Regions of Central America

> **NIH ALLCDC U01** · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2021 · $250,000

## Abstract

Summary. Emerging pathogens are global public health threats, with low to middle income countries in Central
America having disproportionately high risks for transmission due to large population centers, areas of extreme
poverty, and tropical climates. In Belize and El Salvador, more than 6.7 million people are at risk, with 2.3 million
living in poverty. Vector-borne, respiratory, and enteric pathogens are of high concern in these vulnerable
populations. Outbreaks of dengue virus (DENV) have occurred in this region since the 1970's, and the first
autochthonous cases of chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and Zika virus (ZIKV) were reported in 2014 and 2015,
respectively. With Aedes aegypti mosquito populations established throughout the region and lack of resources
for vector surveillance and control, transmission of these pathogens will continue to be sustained. Autochthonous
transmission of parasitic and bacterial vector-borne diseases also occur; however, the true incidence and
prevalence of these infections are not known. In deeply impoverished communities that lack public health
infrastructure, general health can be poor and malnutrition prevalent, leading to a higher risk of adverse
outcomes from respiratory and enteric pathogens. Outbreaks can overwhelm public health systems and severely
strain the current diagnostic and case management capacities at the local level. Collectively, endemic and
emerging pathogens continue to impact Central America. Considering 1.3 million tourists visit Belize each year
alone, the risk of introduction to the US is high. To combat these disease threats, we have convened a strong,
multi-disciplinary international team to create an acute febrile illness (AFI) surveillance network to detect
and diagnose vector-borne, respiratory, and enteric pathogens within sentinel hospitals in two high-risk
areas of Belize (Belize City) and El Salvador (Sonsonate). These sentinel sites are based in tertiary-care
hospitals where Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) has current, ongoing projects. The total population served by
these hospitals is approximately 829,000. This AFI sentinel surveillance system will work in tandem with
vector and animal reservoir surveillance to create a One Health approach to detecting and combating
disease threats. We will leverage the academic strengths of US institutions with world-renowned expertise in
tropical medicine, entomology, veterinary public health, and informatics: BCM, Texas A&M, University of South
Carolina, and Johns Hopkins University. We will collaboratively expand our clinical, education, and research
missions, working in tandem with stakeholders from the respective Ministries of Health, local universities, hospital
networks, CDC, PAHO, and other US- and Central America-based partners. This collaborative network will
provide a preeminent resource to Central America for capacity building, training, applied research, diagnostics,
and integrated real-time surveillance for emerging pathogens. Our...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10242607
- **Project number:** 5U01GH002235-04
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** KRISTY MURRAY
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** ALLCDC
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $250,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-15 → 2023-09-14

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10242607

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10242607, An Integrated One Health Approach to Detect and Respond to Emerging Disease Threats in High-Risk Regions of Central America (5U01GH002235-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10242607. Licensed CC0.

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