SRNA Podcast - The Role of CDC in AFM Surveillance

The Role of CDC in AFM Surveillance

July 24, 2019

SRNA is joined by Dr. Janell Routh and Dr. Manisha Patel from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as Dr. Benjamin Greenberg from University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, to discuss the role of CDC in Acute Flaccid Myelitis (AFM) surveillance. The history of the CDC’s response to AFM is discussed. The medical experts explain the difference between polio and AFM. The experts also give a detailed explanation for the current state of reporting of AFM to CDC. A new consult portal was recently developed by SRNA in collaboration with CDC and physicians at UTSW and Johns Hopkins, and more information is given on this new tool. The CDC officials also discuss plans for follow-up of AFM patients. The experts give an overview of the current research being conducted on AFM and how it will inform future treatment.

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About Our Guest Speakers

Janell Routh, MD, MHS

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Janell Routh graduated from the UCSF/UC Berkeley Joint Medical Program in 2004, and UCSF Pediatric Residency Program in 2007. For the next three years she practiced pediatric HIV and general tropical medicine in Malawi with the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative. She returned to the US to start the Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS) fellowship with CDC in Atlanta in 2010. Her CDC experience has spanned food and waterborne outbreaks, cholera prevention in Haiti, to her current work in the Division of Viral Diseases as the program lead for Acute Flaccid Myelitis since 2016.

Manisha Patel, MD, MS

US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Dr. Manisha Patel is a medical officer with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She is the epidemiology Team Lead in the Division of Viral Diseases, and oversees 8 domestic viral programs, specifically, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, acute flaccid myelitis, varicella, zoster and cytomegalovirus. She maintains expertise in the epidemiology and immunology of viral vaccine-preventable diseases, which includes domestic surveillance, outbreak response and control, vaccine policy, and health communications. She provides care to pediatric patients at the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta.

Benjamin M. Greenberg, MD, MHS

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Dr. Benjamin Greenberg received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and his Masters Degree in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. He completed his residency in neurology at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and then joined the faculty within the division of neuroimmunology. In January of 2009 he was recruited to the faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center where he was named Deputy Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Program and Director of the new Transverse Myelitis and Neuromyelitis Optica Program. Dr. Greenberg is recognized internationally as an expert in rare autoimmune disorders of the central nervous system. His research interests are in both the diagnosis and treatment of transverse myelitis, neuromyelitis optica, encephalitis, multiples sclerosis and infections of the nervous system. He currently serves as the Director of the Neurosciences Clinical Research Center and is a Cain Denius Foundation Scholar.