For those interested in disease, be they animal, plant or human, ProMed is the source of real time information, especially when governments find it convenient not to report. This is a brief history of ProMed from its origin focusing on bioterrorism to its 76,000 members interested in all diseases
Please ignore the appeal for funds, if you are not inclined. Cheers, David Duffy <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001TczOSn67wAHXolMLjgxHjbnpfCAvGEmNOEjiM_n9ApdQj_39Kpy-nNSxdnbULptPWD-ugJk8lWToopwNqVrPztHnejbLeZmBU3QUF-b9G3nTW3Lq5vmsIeSIyt_088f50chBuNdAuLzEgR1sQnZ5o6W0H680nGKHH7T3hIZGz48iUShpKehNPb2glL2-w8a62yubUecU9po=&c=hu1KT3OKi7esJ1twWs5fv5pIYdbmKE218k1koVPlPs2I-AYhVqon_Q==&ch=PgRTCfh825aNATsQKnBWFiCvqFUY1iHcyCGWVKYAFp2BPnUzGns8bg==> <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001TczOSn67wAHXolMLjgxHjbnpfCAvGEmNOEjiM_n9ApdQj_39Kpy-nPqwl03g45JeR7V1sZjdK63Oo0HZUGDXSfSqyuaD0m7GkMUunCLQm2WLUHcBolwKlZr2woigMQveog2L2kM9SBMF8-cPkNlGVmdQ4XBqNmW_&c=hu1KT3OKi7esJ1twWs5fv5pIYdbmKE218k1koVPlPs2I-AYhVqon_Q==&ch=PgRTCfh825aNATsQKnBWFiCvqFUY1iHcyCGWVKYAFp2BPnUzGns8bg==> November 23, 2015 Dear Colleagues, In May, 1995, I was asked by Jack Woodall whether I would care to be ProMED-mail's veterinary moderator. In those days there were some 429 members. Any bounced postings came straight back to whoever was the top mod that week and there were but a few of us at best. It was a very slim organization. The basic objective then, as it is now, was for ProMED to be a trip wire for any Bio-Warfare/Bio-Terrorism event on the assumption that any such event might well be first observed by a member of the public or a street-level professional unaware of what had really happened but was reporting a "disease" event. Built into this approach is the notion that to observe an 'abnormal' event one has to be fully conversant with normality. So we watched for and reported on emerging diseases, whether of humans, animals, or food plants, and of related toxic events. Each year, almost each month, we acquired more members. With experience, more postings went out each week. What I did as the single AHEAD (Animal Health and Emerging Animal Diseases) moderator is now ably and more expertly done by a veterinary team of five [nine other veterinary health specialists work on ProMED's regional services. – Mod.LM]. I just cover anthrax now and serve as backup when others are travelling. Something I learnt early on was the need to explain the aetiology and ecology of infectious animal diseases, which as a veterinarian I was well aware of, but that our medical brethren only saw as just human diseases. As a result, then as now, the moderator's comment might be longer that the outbreak report. But it has paid off as, for over a decade, I find young physicians lecturing me on this or that disease and how human cases are but a small part of a more complex multidimensional situation. ProMED itself now has a bigger footprint with additional subsidiary groups for Spanish, Portuguese, and Russian speaking members, plus networks in the Mekong Basin, Francophone Africa, Anglophone Africa, South Asia, and for North Africa and the Middle East. Each covers its special interests, but if something unexpected should occur, it will be reported and shared globally. Keep in mind Holmes' remark to Watson that he saw but did not observe. To 'observe' you have to know the normal background to this or that disease, plus something of that part of the world where it is being seen this week and last year. To do that, ProMED has many more than the three moderators it had when I joined the ranks – today we have 35 each with specific expertise. With that growth comes the need for a larger but very necessary salaried support staff with editorial, administrative, and IT skills. It was a simpler time when ProMED was just 6 people. But as ProMED grows and becomes increasingly valuable, it also becomes more expensive to maintain. ProMED needs your financial help to keep doing the work it has done so well. *Please join with me in supporting ProMED-mail. <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001TczOSn67wAHXolMLjgxHjbnpfCAvGEmNOEjiM_n9ApdQj_39Kpy-nNSxdnbULptPWD-ugJk8lWToopwNqVrPztHnejbLeZmBU3QUF-b9G3nTW3Lq5vmsIeSIyt_088f50chBuNdAuLzEgR1sQnZ5o6W0H680nGKHH7T3hIZGz48iUShpKehNPb2glL2-w8a62yubUecU9po=&c=hu1KT3OKi7esJ1twWs5fv5pIYdbmKE218k1koVPlPs2I-AYhVqon_Q==&ch=PgRTCfh825aNATsQKnBWFiCvqFUY1iHcyCGWVKYAFp2BPnUzGns8bg==>* ProMED-mail now fills an important global function for up-to-the-moment information on infectious diseases and toxic events. We are a recognised and valued scientific reference. The majority of our *76,000* members in at least *185 countries* check postings each day for conditions that they are interested in in order to be updated and not caught unaware of something that may be happening on their patch. This fills a much valued foreground, but the sensitivity to be able to quickly recognise a BW/BT event is still with us. Fortunately they are rare, for the moment. It could change in the blink of an eye. Sincerely, Martin Hugh-Jones *Professor Emeritus, Department of Environmental Sciences, School of the Coast & Environment, andProfessor Emeritus, Department of Pathobiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine,Louisiana State University* ProMED-mail Animal Disease Assistant Moderator (Mod. 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International Society of Infectious Diseases | 9 Babcock St., Unit 3 | Brookline | MA | 02446 -- David Duffy 戴大偉 (Dài Dàwěi) Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit/Makamakaʻāinana Botany University of Hawaii 3190 Maile Way Honolulu Hawaii 96822 USA 1-808-956-8218
