I'm Judy Wasser.

Height can, can you hear?

Yeah.

Okay.

Great.

Um, good evening.

I'm Judy.

Lost her height.

I am the chair of our Department of Global Health here of the University of Washington and the co director of the University of Washington's Metta Center on Pandemic Disease Preparedness and Global Health Security.

And on behalf of my partner, co director and all of us involved my partner, co director Peter Rabinowitz and all of us involved with the Metta Center.

It is a real pleasure to welcome all of you who are here in the room and those of you who have so patiently waited for livestream connection.

Thanks to very generous support from Tai Kramer, who is a member of our leadership council in the Department of Global Health.

We are here this evening Ah, to discuss what we know and equally importantly, what we don't know and what we need to know about the new Corona virus.

Ah, and the health problems that it can cause.

We're here to answer as many questions.

A cz possible to explain what's being done locally to protect people right now to share some of the research.

That's going on to develop in vaccines and improved diagnostic tests and to help connect both those who are already working on this problem and those others who might want to help.

This virus has been moving very quickly.

It's been less than eight weeks since that first cluster of about 40 cases was reported in Wuhan, China, and in that period, um, there has been an explosive epidemic.

This resulted now in about 75,000 confirmed cases.

Um, depending on exactly how you define a case and about 2000 deaths, the majority of both ah still being in China, we've also begun to see profound social and economic impacts around the world.

The good news is that the science has also moved with unprecedented speed.

So in days to weeks, rather than the usual time frame of months or more, um, we have seen ah, new virus identified diagnostic test developed and there are many treatment trials that have already been started.

More are planned and multiple groups are working on a vaccine development and you'll hear a little bit about some of this tonight.

I think.

Equally important, um, global communication has been extraordinarily rapid and robust with this this epidemic.

I think the other piece of good news is that currently there are still relatively few cases here in the United States, and the risk of becoming infected remains low here in the United States.

Preparedness and response efforts have been pretty strong to date, and Washington, ah has actually not only been the home to the first U.

S case, but ah has become a national leader as part of this response.

And that's thanks to the efforts of many people, including some of the people who will be speaking tonight.

However, epidemics, particularly of new viruses and new diseases, can be very frightening, Um, and that fear often gets translated into stigma and discrimination.

Which means that the need for timely, accurate, evidence based information is just as urgent and essential as the need for effective drugs and vaccines.

And that's part of the reason that we're here tonight.

Um, epidemics like this require an ability to manage pretty serious risk in the face of uncertainty and incomplete information, which is pretty uncomfortable.

Actually, um, at times it means navigating the balance and the trade off between the safety of populations and the privacy or freedom of movement of individuals.

Um, and it can require communities toe come together to make very tough choices in order to make sure that as many of us stay healthy as possible.

Um, I'd like to make one last point that I think all of us should be thinking about as we talk tonight.

Um, this this, uh, Corona virus epidemic will not be the last one that we face.

In fact, it's more likely to be a preview of our future unless we start to do something differently.

The frequency, severity and magnitude of outbreaks of organisms with pandemic potential has increased dramatically in the last 40 years.

And it's increased.

They've increased because of changes in the way we live, including the way we interface with animals, the way we use land, the way we travel, the way we change our environment.

Um, and that means that we need to fight this battle on two fronts at the same time that we need to contain this Corona virus epidemic.

Um, we also have to strengthen our ability to prevent, detect and respond to, um, much more broadly to new and re emerging infectious diseases with pandemic potential.

Um, we have to do that using cutting edge, innovative approaches and working very closely with our colleagues in low and middle income countries where these outbreaks tend to emerge.

So that's exactly what the medicine chur is about.

Um, and one of the reasons that we're all here tonight.

So with that, let's get started.

Um, both the University of Washington School of Public Health and the School of Medicine have been very involved in the response to this new Corona virus.

So I'm particularly delighted that Hillary Godwin, who is the dean of our School of public health and Professor of environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, and Tim Delic, um, who is the UW medicine chief medical officer and professor of medicine, are here to join us, tow open the forum this forum, and to share a few of their thoughts.

So, Hillary, please, will you get us started?

So I wanted to start by saying thank you to all of you for coming and joining us tonight and huge thanks to the medicine or folks for organizing this event.

Um, I also want to make sure that we think, um, our public health practice heroes from the local health departments in the state Health Department, Um, who have made time out of their already very full and busy schedules to be with us here today.

These folks have been on the front lines responding to rapidly changing containment needs and making sure that our communities air prepared for future possible cases in this region.

And I know I personally sleep well at night knowing that you guys were out there working for us.

Um, for s what in ah, at the University of Washington.

Um, the outbreak has brought to the forefront of question off.

What's the appropriate role for academic health science schools in a public health outbreak like this one?

Um, we feel very blessed in the University of Washington school Public health to have such great collaboratively relationships with our state and local health partners.

Um, and you'll hear more about that in the second panel and how we've been able to leverage that.

But we're still left with the question of how can we do more?

And so, as we move forward, hopefully after things calm down a bit, we hope to engage with you guys and conversations.

Um, about how we might better engage cooks from across campus in, um, hoping all of you on the front lines, um, and leveraging not only places like the Metro Centre, but initiatives like the Population Health Initiative.

So with that, turn it over to him.

Good evening.

I also want to extend my thanks both to the medicine or as well as everyone who is here in person and those who were streaming online.

I also wanted to follow up on something that Judy mentioned you and I think back as an infectious disease physician when I came here to university Washington, my fellowship and what has transpired since then we've had SARS.

In 2003 we had 2009 h one n one pandemic influenza.

We had murders in 2012.

We had Ebola in 2014.

And although that may not have had the same pandemic potential from a resource intensity and prepared this, it really caused ah lot of us to spend a lot of energy and well spent energy because much of what we did in preparation from 2014 has carried for to our preparation here for now, the novel Corona virus in 2019.

And so I suspect absolutely, we're going to see more and more of these potential emerging pathogens.

When I look at the lineup tonight, it really strikes me how fortunate we are to live in the Northwest.

We have wonderful health care systems.

We have tremendous local health public health jurisdictions, particularly here in King County, but also our partners in Snohomish and the other local surrounding counties.

We have wonderful partners with the Department of Health, and we also have the Northwest Healthcare Response Network.

That really helps coordinate all of our activities across our various health care systems, ensuring our preparedness and particularly communication.

I also think we're very fortunate when you look at the University of Washington and the breath of our activities, both locally and response regionally and then globally.

A CE has been mentioned here as well.

From a school of medicine standpoint, we have wonderful clinical care and in coordination with public health, great epidemiology, along with all the other health science schools within the University of Washington.

We have tremendous research, and we're going to hear more about that innovation, uh, during those panels as we think about emerging pathogens and we also have tremendous education.

And the education is also very important to me as I reflect on one particular individual who is with us today.

Dr.

Jorge Diaz, who is our guest from Providence.

Everett George was infectious disease fellow with us many years ago and from my standpoint, one of those fellows that I very much regret that we weren't able to keep within our system, but also strikes me the importance of our role in educating the next generation of physicians and the leaders and partners that we have within the community as they did an exceptional job in caring for the first patient who was seen in the U.

S.

With this novel Corona virus.

So again, thank you very much for participating this evening.

Thank you both.

Um, all right, it's time to get started.

Now we're gonna hear from three panels of experts um, focusing first on how the virus spreads and causes disease.

Then we're gonna talk about the response to this novel Corona virus and future outbreaks with pandemic potential.

And the third panel will focus on emerging insights and innovations through research.

Each panel will be in a Q and A format starting with the panel itself.

And then your questions, Um, and each one will be moderated by one of the leaders from our meta center in the interest of time, I'm gonna introduce everybody now, so you don't have me coming back and forth up here.

That's more time for questions.

Um, so the first panel will be moderated by Peter Rabinowitz, who is co director of our U W Medicine tres I said Before, and professor of Global health, environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and Family Medicine.

He also directs the U W.

Center for one health, one health research.

The second, um, actually, do you want a wave so people know who you are?

Okay, there we go.

Thank you.

The second panel is gonna be moderated by David Piggott, Um, who leads the Vulnerability Assessment group of the Meta Center.

And he is an assistant professor of health metrics.

Science is based at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, and the third panel will be led by a West Van Vorhees, um, who leads our Meta Centers Biomedical Intervention group.

He is a professor of medicine and infectious diseases.

Ah, and he is also the director of our center for emerging and reemerging infectious diseases.

After these three panels, we're going to have a closing session which will give time for a few final thoughts and additional cross cutting questions.

And that session will be moderated by Beth Bell, Um, who served as acting director for the medicines or until fairly recently and continues as our senior adviser.

Um, she is a professor of global health here and is the former director of the CDC ease National Center for Emerging in zoonotic infectious Diseases.

So has longstanding experience in this arena.

And with that, Peter, the podium is yours.

Here we go.

Oh, thank you, Judy.

And thanks you all for coming out tonight and for everybody watching this online as well.

Um, so I'm gonna Ravenna laid some the co director of the medicine or for pandemic disease preparedness, and I'm gonna moderate this first session.

The goal is, as Judy said of the first session is to really set the stage with some latest information about the cove in 19 infection and the virus that causes it and how that acts when you're actually taking care of a patient with it and how you are also how it is acting in populations as opposed to just a single patient.

So I'm gonna introduce the panel that's going to be talking about this to talk about the the virus itself and coronaviruses in general.

Um, Dr Jeff Gottlieb is an infectious disease physician professor of medicine at UW, and he's also the interim chair of the U Double Advisory Committee on Communicable Disease, which is really leading the response to Cove in 19 across the U.

W campus.

And Jorge Diaz, as you already heard, is infectious disease physician, trained at UW and since 2005 has been an infectious disease specialist at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett.

And he was the treating physician for the patient, who was hospitalized in Everett with Cove in 19.

And Kathy Lo Fi is the state health officer and chief science officer for Washington state, and she advises the governor and the secretary of health on a wide range of health issues, and her particular interest is in infectious disease outbreaks and their control, and she will speak about populations.

And before I ask them some questions, I just wanted to talk about one other aspect of this situation that Judy alluded to, which is that we have seen in the last several decades more and more of these, what we call emerging infectious diseases, disease we've really never seen before or diseases that we maybe knew about before, better acting in totally different ways and these emerging infectious diseases.

When you add them all up and there's been merged and SARS and Ebola and West Nile and avian influenza and each one n one when you add them all up, actually, about 2/3 of them end up being diseases that come from animals.

And there's really something going on, as Judy said about the way we're interacting with animals that we still don't quite understand when it comes to Cove in 19.

But it's gonna be very interesting important to understand it, because the other Corona viruses that you've heard about that that the Cove in 19 is related to, um seem to have really fit this pattern of coming from animals originally, so that in 2002 when SARS broke out in China, it broke out in the midst of at live animal markets where these civet cats were being sold for food and had been bred in numbers that had never been bred like that before.

And the workers in the markets were some of the first people getting sick when, in 2012 another Corona virus that, just like SARS, appears to have actually had its origin and bats, Um started breaking out in the Middle East.

It was in camels and people work closely with camels, and somehow the virus had jumped from bats to camels to people.

And it turned out that we're also now raising camels in ways we never raised them before, much more intensively and barns all close together with people working together like that.

And now we have this cove, it 19 breaking out again in the setting of a market.

We don't know everything about what happens.

We really need more research about what exactly happened to start this whole problem.

But there were markets and there were animals being sold, and there was, um, lots of intensive farming of animals happening.

And I think we need to really learn the lessons of how we're interacting with animals as we try to feed a growing global population.

That Cove in 19 is in the animals were trying to tell us something.

And hopefully we'll learn that lesson as we learn the other lessons that we need to learn about how to respond to a problem like this but hopefully be able to prevent the next one as well.