Jeff on bird flu

Jeff Mariner talked about lessons learned from responses to highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) and the different approaches that have been taken. Jeff says: Never has so much money been spent with so little strategic thought.

He talked about the shortcomings of conventional 'technically driven' interventions and the use of short term consultants. He contrasted this with community-centred 'people-driven' approaches like the one he and colleagues are using, called 'participatory epidemiology', to fight bird flu in Indonesia . This involves teams of veterinarians going into villages and tapping into local knowledge by talking to people to find out where and when bird flu outbreaks are occurring and then getting villagers to help with control efforts.