Bolstering public health in the South Pacific

Sam Emmerich: Army officer, veterinarian, epidemiologist

By Jack Kelly

During the summer of 2024, health officials in American Samoa faced daunting news: A dengue outbreak gripped the neighboring country of Western Samoa, raising fears that the disease would soon once again arrive on the shores of their own beautiful islands.

Dengue can cause flu-like symptoms, including fever, headache, joint pain, and rash, with severe cases sometimes leading to hospitalization and even death. Making matters worse, American Samoa’s warm, damp climate is a perfect breeding ground for the mosquitos that often spread the disease.

The U.S. territory had experienced outbreaks before. So, after a potential case, local health officials reached out to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help enhance dengue response in the country, which is home to about 50,000 people.

Enter Maj. Sam Emmerich (’13 DVM’18) and a team of scientists.

At the time, Emmerich was completing a two-year fellowship with the CDC’s Epidemic Intelligence Service (EIS), working as one of the agency’s “disease detectives.” Alongside an epidemiologist, an entomologist, and a nurse, the Eau Claire, Wisconsin, native deployed to American Samoa for two months for a two-pronged mission to improve disease surveillance and response on the islands.

Emmerich focused on “vector control activities” — essentially, mosquito-proofing residential areas on the island. That included better hanging of mosquito nets, eliminating mosquito breeding grounds by improving drainage, removing man-made pools of water (like tires and discarded bottles), and spraying insecticides.

“Our major effort for this deployment was to evaluate the insecticide spray techniques to reduce mosquitoes,” Emmerich says. “Eliminating the vehicle that spreads the virus is a really important part of disease prevention during an outbreak.”

The scientists also bolstered monitoring of dengue on the island by assessing the readiness of health care facilities in American Samoa and supporting the implementation of FDA-approved dengue tests in local laboratories. They also developed a “diagnostic algorithm” with the local health department to help improve early detection of the disease.

The tests “are currently being verified in American Samoa,” Emmerich says. “Once they are, the turnaround time for a confirmatory test will drop from weeks — when samples had to be shipped to Hawaii — to 24 hours.”

As Emmerich’s deployment ended, he and his colleagues helped update the island nation’s dengue response plans to reflect these mosquito surveillance and control best practices.

The plan highlights “how an integrated, interdisciplinary strategy, including veterinarians, is an effective approach for increasing readiness for infectious disease outbreaks,” Emmerich says. “Our combined efforts were greater than the sum of our parts.”

The veterinarian was also quick to note that the deployment was successful because of the trusting relationships the CDC team was able to build with local officials.

“We didn’t come to help them,” Emmerich says. “We came to join them in a collaborative effort to strengthen dengue readiness in American Samoa.”

Emmerich continues to serve as a Veterinary Corps Officer with the U.S. Army. He credits his interest in public health to the wide range of experiences the UW School of Veterinary Medicine exposes students to during their four years in Madison. While pursuing his DVM, for example, he heard from an EIS officer who guest lectured about a deployment to Haiti. That helped him chart his own career path, he says.

“The sky is the limit for DVMs. View school as learning how to learn and how to interact with other health professionals. You’d be surprised how your education can help advance public health. Veterinary medicine is public health.”

– Sam Emmerich (’13 DVM’18) on veterinary students interested in public health work.

Emmerich’s path of service and science