This document discusses leptospirosis, a bacterial disease impacting public health. It provides statistics on estimated global cases and deaths per year. It describes leptospirosis as having a complex natural history and clinical presentation. Climate change may increase its impact. Two typhoons in the Philippines in 2009 resulted in hundreds of leptospirosis cases. It introduces the Global Leptospirosis Environmental Action Network (GLEAN), a multi-disciplinary international group taking a One Health approach to strengthen leptospirosis prevention and control strategies through increased knowledge sharing and improved early warning systems. GLEAN's goals are reducing disease incidence, determining main drivers, developing predictive tools, and improving confirmation testing, outbreak detection, prepared

1. Health and Climate Foundation G lobal L eptospirosis E nvironmental A ction N etwork Strengthen the prevention and outbreak control strategy Eric Bertherat, MD, MPH, MSc Pandemic and Epidemic Diseases WHO Geneva

3. 557,000 cases incl. 55,800 deaths worldwide each year. 1,730,000 cases , 123,000 deaths annually when adjusted for potential under-reporting due to incomplete case confirmation Severe outbreaks linked to natural disasters http://www.who.int/zoonoses/diseases/lerg/en/ Estimating the magnitude of the problem: the Leptospirosis Burden Epidemiology Reference Group ( LERG ) WHO mandated by expert consultation in 2006 to coordinate a comprehensive global burden of leptospirosis assessment

6. The G lobal L eptospirosis E nvironmental A ction N etwork (GLEAN) A One Health Approach GLEAN: An international Community of Practice Medical Clinicians, Public health specialists, Veterinarians, Climatologists, Statisticians, Rodent specialists, Biologists, Anthropologists, Ecologists, Water and Sanitation Specialists, Economists... Increasing the knowledge of the relationship between environmental, biological, ecological, economic, demographic factors Early warning systems and Improved prevention and control strategies Reducing the impact of leptospirosis outbreaks through cost-effective, implementable and sustainable solutions

8. Thanks Bangkok, October 2011