Billions of trips occur yearly by all sorts of vessels including cars, trains, boats, and airplanes. They help humans get from point A to point B quickly and effectively. But travel can also help turn an outbreak into a pandemic. Over the millennia, we’ve seen how human movement and migration can spread an infectious disease across the planet.

We have had a few close calls and one was the SARS epidemic in 2003. After the world returned to normal, our guest worked on how to develop early warning systems to ensure no outbreak went undetected and allowed to spread across the world. His name is Ron St. John and he was the Director General of the Centre for Emergency Preparedness and Response at the Public Health Agency of Canada. He also helped develop the Global Public Health Intelligence Network which helps health professionals rapidly detect, identify, assess, prevent and mitigate threats to human health. He now works to help inform the public of threats associated with travel with his company, Sitata.   

While this discussion will offer you more than you might have heard regarding travel and infectious diseases, I’m sure you will have questions. Which is why I hope you reach out to me on Twitter, by Email, or via voice message at Speakpipe.com/SASS. Just follow the link below and send me your thoughts. 

Twitter: @JATetro
Email: [email protected]
Voice Message: https://speakpipe.com/SASS

Guest:
Ron St. John
https://www.sitata.com/en

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices