The Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Olympic Games held during the COVID-19 pandemic: planning, outcomes, and lessons learnt.

The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly affected all mass gatherings for sporting and religious events, causing cancellation, postponement, or downsizing. On March 24, 2020, the Japanese Government, the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and the International Olympic Committee decided to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games until the summer of 2021. With the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the potential creation of a superspreading event that would overwhelm the Tokyo health system was perceived as a risk.

Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus-a 10-year (2012-2022) global analysis of human and camel infections, genomic sequences, lineages, and geographical origins.

Objectives: The World Health Organization priority zoonotic pathogen Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus (CoV) has a high case fatality rate in humans and circulates in camels worldwide.

Methods: We performed a global analysis of human and camel MERS-CoV infections, epidemiology, genomic sequences, clades, lineages, and geographical origins for the period January 1, 2012 to August 3, 2022. MERS-CoV Surface gene sequences (4061 bp) were extracted from GenBank, and a phylogenetic maximum likelihood tree was constructed.

COVID-19 and other respiratory tract infections at mass gathering religious and sporting events.

Purpose Of Review: Mass gathering (MG) religious events provide ideal conditions for transmission and globalization of respiratory tract infections (RTIs). We review recent literature on COVID-19 and other RTIs at recurring international annual MG religious and sporting events.

Recent Findings: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic organizers of MG religious and sporting events introduced risk-based infection control measures that limited transmission of RTIs.

Athlete health and safety at large sporting events: the development of consensus-driven guidelines.

All sport events have inherent injury and illness risks for participants. Healthcare services for sport events should be planned and delivered to mitigate these risks which is the ethical responsibility of all sport event organisers. The objective of this paper was to develop consensus-driven guidelines describing the basic standards of services necessary to protect athlete health and safety during large sporting events.

SARS to novel coronavirus - old lessons and new lessons.

The response to the novel coronavirus outbreak in China suggests that many of the lessons from the 2003 SARS epidemic have been implemented and the response improved as a consequence. Nevertheless some questions remain and not all lessons have been successful. The national and international response demonstrates the complex link between public health, science and politics when an outbreak threatens to impact on global economies and reputations.

Syndromic surveillance: two decades experience of sustainable systems - its people not just data!

Syndromic surveillance is a form of surveillance that generates information for public health action by collecting, analysing and interpreting routine health-related data on symptoms and clinical signs reported by patients and clinicians rather than being based on microbiologically or clinically confirmed cases. In England, a suite of national real-time syndromic surveillance systems (SSS) have been developed over the last 20 years, utilising data from a variety of health care settings (a telehealth triage system, general practice and emergency departments). The real-time systems in England have been used for early detection (e.

An Observational Study Using English Syndromic Surveillance Data Collected During the 2012 London Olympics - What did Syndromic Surveillance Show and What Can We Learn for Future Mass-gathering Events?

Unlabelled: Introduction In preparation for the London 2012 Olympic Games, existing syndromic surveillance systems operating in England were expanded to include daily general practitioner (GP) out-of-hours (OOH) contacts and emergency department (ED) attendances at sentinel sites (the GP OOH and ED syndromic surveillance systems: GPOOHS and EDSSS). Hypothesis/Problem The further development of syndromic surveillance systems in time for the London 2012 Olympic Games provided a unique opportunity to investigate the impact of a large mass-gathering event on public health and health services as monitored in near real-time by syndromic surveillance of GP OOH contacts and ED attendances. This can, in turn, aid the planning of future events.

Novel public health risk assessment process developed to support syndromic surveillance for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Background: Syndromic surveillance aims to provide early warning and real time estimates of the extent of incidents; and reassurance about lack of impact of mass gatherings. We describe a novel public health risk assessment process to ensure those leading the response to the 2012 Olympic Games were alerted to unusual activity that was of potential public health importance, and not inundated with multiple statistical 'alarms'.

Methods: Statistical alarms were assessed to identify those which needed to result in 'alerts' as reliably as possible.

The annual Hajj pilgrimage-minimizing the risk of ill health in pilgrims from Europe and opportunity for driving the best prevention and health promotion guidelines.

Mass gatherings at religious events can pose major public health challenges, particularly the transmission of infectious diseases. Every year the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) hosts the Hajj pilgrimage, the largest gathering held on an annual basis where over 2 million people come to KSA from over 180 countries. Living together in crowded conditions exposes the pilgrims and the local population to a range infectious diseases.

Hosting of mass gathering sporting events during the 2013-2016 Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa: experience from three African countries.

• Mass gatherings at sporting events attract millions of international and national host-country travellers, who may put themselves at risk of acquiring local endemic infectious diseases. • The 2013–2016 Ebola virus disease (EVD) outbreak in West Africa that resulted in over 28 637 cases and 11 315 deaths required that countries holding these events put in place public health programmes for enhanced surveillance and specific response plans for any suspected cases of EVD. • Three major sports events were held in Africa during the EVD outbreak, attended by athletes from numerous African countries including Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea, the three countries most affected by EVD: the African Youth Games (Botswana), Africa Cup of Nations (Equatorial Guinea), and All-Africa Games (Republic of Congo).

Reducing risks to health and wellbeing at mass gatherings: the role of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Mass gatherings of people at religious pilgrimages and sporting events are linked to numerous health hazards, including the transmission of infectious diseases, physical injuries, and an impact on local and global health systems and services. As with other forms of disaster, mass gathering-related disasters are the product of the management of different hazards, levels of exposure, and vulnerability of the population and environment, and require comprehensive risk management that looks beyond single hazards and response. Incorporating an all-hazard, prevention-driven, evidence-based approach that is multisectoral and multidisciplinary is strongly advocated by the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030.

Tuberculosis and mass gatherings-opportunities for defining burden, transmission risk, and the optimal surveillance, prevention, and control measures at the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Tuberculosis (TB) is now the most common infectious cause of death worldwide. In 2014, an estimated 9.6 million people developed active TB.

Rapid Spread of Zika Virus in The Americas--Implications for Public Health Preparedness for Mass Gatherings at the 2016 Brazil Olympic Games.

Mass gatherings at major international sporting events put millions of international travelers and local host-country residents at risk of acquiring infectious diseases, including locally endemic infectious diseases. The mosquito-borne Zika virus (ZIKV) has recently aroused global attention due to its rapid spread since its first detection in May 2015 in Brazil to 22 other countries and other territories in the Americas. The ZIKV outbreak in Brazil, has also been associated with a significant rise in the number of babies born with microcephaly and neurological disorders, and has been declared a 'Global Emergency by the World Health Organization.