United States virus

Introduction

    Since Ebola is largely contagious, a Felis vaccine is seen to be the best solution. We hope to stop the spread of the United States virus (USAV) by going straight to our number one reservoir, Felis catus, otherwise known as the domesticated cat. If the reservoir link is broken the disease will die out and the cat flea, Ctenocephalides felis, will have no place from which to get the disease.

    A reservoir control rather than vector control was chosen due to the efficiency of vaccines compared to insecticides. While an insecticide control does work, spraying all areas where flea eggs, larvae, and adults may be a large task.  The insects are small enough to hide in plain sight. The eggs can last for incredible amounts of time without a host and adult fleas can live months without a blood meal. They may even cannibalize unfertilized eggs for additional nutrients. The larvae can also live off of fecal matter from the adults. To some, insecticides in the environment expose humans to unnecessary toxins, while insecticides applied topically to animals doesn’t work 100% of the time. The topical and oral insecticides simply inhibit growth of the flea after it tries to feed, which without knowing the transfer time from flea to cat, may be more than enough time for USAV to be transferred. Since we can never fully be rid of fleas, in the future, fleas may become resistant to the insecticides and a resurgence of USAV is possible (Rust 2005). To our team, it was just simpler to stop the disease at the reservoir to protect cats, which will protect us as well.

    This protocol will be implemented in Los Angeles, California since the numbers of USAV cases are incredibly high compared to other locations. This will also make monitoring case numbers easier if the protocol is a success, as the case numbers will start to rapidly plummet.

    We hope to stop the spread of United States Ebola virus as soon as we possibly can, and high societal participation with the protocol is needed to help stop the spread of viral disease.

Protocol

    First the United States Surgeon General will send out a mandate to the current governor of California and mayor of Los Angeles, California that all domesticated cats are to be vaccinated with the vaccine that our investigatory team has created. With the executive powers of the government, the Surgeon General and Secretary are authorized to make and enforce regulations that are necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission, or spread of diseases from one state into any other state (Bush 2011). Since the spread of Ebola virus has been expedited, this is a situation in which a mandate could be used.

    Secondly the vaccine along with four boxes of syringes and needles will be sent out to each of the local animal shelters, veterinary clinics, and animal control centers. These locations will provide the vaccination for free. If over the course of time any of the locations were to run out of the items needed to administer the vaccine, then the personnel of that location will be sent more after notifying the investigators on this page. 

    When these vaccines arrive, all the mailboxes in Los Angeles will be sent a small informational packet about the vaccine, its importance, and its provided locations. Local news agencies will also be contacted to inform viewers that the vaccine has come into the Los Angeles area. Our most important goal is for the vaccine to be viewed as safe and no different from a routine rabies vaccination, in the sense that it is there to protect your cat from an infection that could kill him or her and possibly you, the pet owner (Zhang et. al 2016).

    Hopefully with the rising number of fatal cases of USAV, cat owners will start flocking to the veterinary clinics, animal shelters, and animal control centers. The veterinary clinics will require an appointment, but the animal shelters and control centers will have their own specified times during the day when they will give out vaccinations. For the cat's safety, the vaccine will only be administered by a licensed physicians. Cats will also get the vaccine shot during their next visit to the veterinary clinic regardless of whether the owner wants them to or not. Afterwards, the pet owner will receive documentation that their cat has been vaccinated. Cats that have had flea infections over the last year will also have blood work sent out to clear them of USAV.

    Since stray cats have been wandering around, they may have a cat flea infestation, and be infected with USAV. As a result, stray cats are not to be handled by anyone that does not work for an animal control center or animal shelter. The personnel at these locations will use nets and feral cat traps to catch the cats. The cats will be enticed by food, such as tuna, and then caught with a net. If the trap is used, the trap door will shut on the cat after it walks in to eat the food. Most control centers already have these items in their possess. The personnel of these places will also wear long sleeved shirts, pants, and socks, with their pants tucked into their socks. Fleas like to bite exposed areas of skin, especially around the ankles, so this attire is the most preventative for bites. (Nazarro 2010)

    After these stray cats are caught, they will have blood work done and be put into quarantine until the results come back for USAV. If the results come back negative, the cat will be vaccinated and be put through the normal animal shelter 

procedures for a stray cat.

    If any cat, stray or owned, comes out positive, we will be notified. The cat will then be taken to a veterinarian, put under quarantine, and be treated with supportive care. The cat will only be released once it has overcome the infection (Spengler et al. 2015).

Monitoring/Conclusion

    In order to control United States virus, many monitoring precautions and guidelines should be strictly followed. For monitoring purposes, it is crucial that access to veterinary records be allowed to track animals that have been vaccinated versus those who still require vaccination. Following this access and noting the severity of the disease, a fine to pet owners should be enforced for those who haven’t taken their cats to get the mandatory vaccination. After two weeks, pet owners will have to pay a fine of $100 per week for every cat that they have that is not vaccinated. In order to properly enforce this fine, the veterinary clinics should send our team a list of each of their patients that have not properly vaccinated their cats (Rand 2013). Also, the CDC's Vaccine Tracking System will allow for supply chain management of the publicly-funded vaccine (CDC 2015).

    The veterinary clinics and their patients are not the sole focus, as animal control should hold responsibilities as well. A weekly trapping quota of seven cats should be enforced to the animal control personnel in accordance with the tracked supply chain to further prevent and monitor United States virus. These numbers will be checked biweekly by the investigatory team until all stray cats are caught or the number of cases of USAV drops to less than ten per three months. A secure hotline should also be established in order to contact authorities if feral cats are seen in an area.

    Following these protocols and regulations, monitoring the United States Virus as well as breaking the reservoir link in the disease cycle should be effective and efficient. The most telling signs of this is simply a sharp drop in the number of cases of USAV in the Los Angeles, California area along with negative blood tests in newly found stray cats. (Yakoboson 2014). With the potential success of the vaccine, the implementation of this vaccination within other regions may be addressed as deemed appropriate by national officials and the team. Regarding the Los Angeles region, the outlook for the success of the program is positive and the aforementioned sharp drop in cases is expected. Considering the predicted success via reservoir control, the disease should be eradicated within the next few years.

References

Bush, G.W. 2011. Sec. 264 - Regulations to control communicable diseases. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCODE-2011-title42/html/USCODE-2011-title42-chap6A-subchapII-partG-sec264.htm

(CDC) Centers for Disease Control. 2015. Vaccine Tracking System (vTrckS). CDC, Atlanta, GA.

Nazarro, L. 2010. Flea bites: diagnosis, treatment and prevention. BJHA. 4(9): 442-444.

Rand, B. 2013. HIPAA for Pets? Yes, Medical Privacy Matters for Animals! http://www.hni.com/blog/bid/88056/HIPAA-for-Pets-Yes-Medical-Privacy-Matters-for-Animals

Rust, M. 2005. Advances in the control of Ctenocephalides felis (cat flea) on cats and dogs. doi:10.1016/j.pt.2005.03.010

Spengler, J. R. 2015. Management of a pet dog after exposure to a human patient with Ebola virus disease. JAVMA. doi:10.2460/javma.247.5.531

Yakoboson, B. 2014. Implementation and monitoring of oral rabies vaccination of foxes in Kosovo between 2010 and 2013—An international and intersectorial effort. doi:10.1016/j.ijmm.2014.07.009

Zhang, Y. 2016. A novel rabies vaccine based-on toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) agonist PIKA adjuvant exhibiting excellent safety and efficacy in animal studies.10.1016/j.virol.2015.10.029