Establishment of National Outbreak Response Team for Disease X in India, ET HealthWorld

Nagpur: The National Institute of One Health (NIOH), currently being established in Nagpur, will feature a specialised National Outbreak Response Team aimed at swiftly identifying and analysing the root causes of disease outbreaks.

Dr. Pragya Yadav, Director-in-Charge of the National Institute of Occupational Health (NIOH) and senior scientist at the ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, said that the initiative will involve collaboration among experts from multiple sectors.

Speaking to ANI, Dr Yadav said, “Under the National Institute of One Health, several initiatives are already underway, including national-level mock exercises to assess outbreak response, the formation of a National Joint Outbreak Response Team to investigate the root causes of outbreaks or ongoing diseases, and research focused on vaccines, antiviral treatments, and cost-effective diagnostic methods.”

The Director-in-Charge of NIOH stated that the National Institute of One Health will serve as a platform for all ministries and sectors to collaborate on research. “The National Institute of One Health will unite all ministries and sectors to collaborate on research. This institute will work towards enhancing surveillance, research, and development to make India a stronger nation,” She added.

Dr Yadav added, “The goal is to prepare the country for future health challenges and make it more resilient.”

The National Institute of One Health is being established to strengthen the country’s ability to manage future pandemics and outbreaks of zoonotic diseases.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) decided to establish a National Institute of One Health at Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. In this context, two collaborative research projects, funded by the ICAR and ICMR, were initiated to conduct the epidemiological surveillance of selected zoonotic diseases in Central India.

The scientific collaboration between veterinary and medical faculties has set an example for the effective implementation of the One Health (OH) programme for the establishment of the National Institute of OH.