One Health News

The world has lost a tremendous One Health Champion. LIsa was a vital part of the One Health Initiative pro bono team through which she also served as a member of the One Health Commission's Council of Advisors.

This interconnectedness of the health of people, animals, and the environment is known as one health. But, one health is more than the acknowledgement of a fact.

This framework was developed through an interactive, consultative process with African Union (AU) Member States, experts in One Health and zoonotic diseases, international organizations and other Africa CDC partners. An initial Technical Working Group (TWG) was convened by the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) to oversee the development of the initial draft and subsequent revisions. The TWG included experts from Africa CDC, United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (US CDC), Chatham House and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). To inform the framework development, the TWG reviewed published One Health plans and reports developed by Member States and synthesized common themes, as well as referencing available One Health global guidance. The resulting framework is the product of extensive work by the TWG, whose role and dedication in its creation is deeply appreciated.

Dr Muhammad Pate, Global Director for Health, Nutrition and Population at the World Bank Group emphasized utilization of a “One Health approach” in his comments. In this video see approximately: minutes 28:15 – 29:30  and  33:05 – 33:15.

The One Health Commission (OHC) and the One Health European Joint Programme (OHEJP), in partnership with the World Health Organization's Global Outbreak and Response Network (WHO-GOARN) launched a collaborative project to describe the contributions of the diverse One Health workforce to the COVID-19 pandemic and the connection of One Health networks (OHNs) to workforce response activities. The survey will remain open until August 14, 2020. Results will expand the understanding of the value of a OH approach and the role of OHNs and will be utilized to develop targeted interventions to improve workforce capacity for public health response to COVID-19 and future pandemics. For more details see the Participant Information Sheet.

Take the survey.

Produced by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), this report highlights the environmental side of the zoonotic dimension of  the COVID-19 pandemic.  Examining the root causes of this pandemic and other zoonoses, it fills a critical knowledge gap and provides policymakers with a better understanding of the context and nature of potential future zoonotic disease outbreaks. The report recommends the need for a One Health approach.

The concept of One Health provides a useful framework for examining complex health issues such as food safety and security, emerging and vector-borne diseases, and antimicrobial resistance. It can be used to analyze government policies to determine if they are effective in improving health and well-being.

• Agriculture is the foundation of civilization. …. But agriculture comes with costs including environmental and ecosystem destruction and the emergence of zoonotic diseases.
• Antibiotics are the foundation of modern medicine. But antibiotics have come with costs too, including antimicrobial resistance and potentially harmful changes to human and animal microbiomes.

This interdisciplinary course covers diverse subjects of basic epidemiology, public health, public policy, basic microbiology, food safety, and security, zoonotic diseases, sanitation and hygiene, antimicrobial resistance, environmental and ecosystem health, and the national and international organizations that oversee health, agriculture, and the environment. Disease outbreaks including Influenza, Q fever, and Ebola are discussed. While the course was developed and recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic, the concepts learned very much apply to it.

One Health Practitioner Podcast with Dani Kilani

What it means to be a One Health Practitioner, and the drivers of One Health acceptance and awareness.

The COVID-19 global pandemic has punctuated the need for taking an integrated One Health approach to fostering and protecting human health and wellbeing.

In the U.S. last year a bipartisan bill, the One Health Act of 2019, was introduced into both chambers of Congress, the Senate and the House. https://tinyurl.com/yyn8b8vj     Adtalem Global Education recently produced an informational video about the Bill that reveals the nature and the urgency of passing the legislation.  The [U.S.] government has FEMA to handle natural disasters, posits Congressman Schrader; why not have a One Health apparatus to handle public health disasters? View the video  https://tinyurl.com/ycb9aj8r

@Cracking One Health is a podcast series led by Dr. Sara Perestrello to connect humans, animals and the environment

The University of Edinburgh will work with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China Merchants Group, and the Hainan government to help the province of Hainan establish a strong One Health force, through research, education and global reach.

Author: Christoph May  On:  World Animal Protection Website      (Open in Chrome for English translation)

"A message from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) holds hope in these dark times: German development aid is to be given a new focus that could benefit millions of animals in emerging and developing countries. The key word is "One Health", the ministry wants to set up a separate unit for this.  "The corona crisis makes it unmistakably clear what we risk if nothing changes in our dealings with the animals. Now it is time to bring sustainable solutions for a healthy coexistence of humans and animals on the way. “   Daniela Schrudde, head of animal protection work, world animal protection society

“One Health integrates knowledge from several different spheres, including human health, animal health, environmental health and agricultural businesses. The approach is gaining traction among academics, government officials and international policymakers as the best way to approach complex problems such as emerging zoonotic diseases. But we need to do more to integrate this approach into how we prepare for viruses like the newly emerged coronavirus."    Dr. Greg Gray

Washington, DC., USA

CORE Group’s One Health Interest Group supports coordination, communication, and collaboration for strengthened community engagement across human, animal and environment sectors before, during and after outbreaks.

Salzburg Global Seminar Newsletter post

“All bets are off. It’s time for every diagnostician, whether in human or wildlife or agricultural species, to strip away those preconceptions and then go that extra step and think, what if this is something new?”

“If you don’t start funding the wildlife sector and making it possible to do wildlife disease surveillance, then we may as well all just close up shop and go home because nothing will change.”   Tracy McNamara

The new coronavirus has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization, as the outbreak continues to spread outside China.

"The main reason for this declaration is not what is happening in China but what is happening in other countries," said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

These One Health educational events for US lawmakers and their staff, one for the House and one for the Senate, were sponsored by the Veterinary Caucus, the Public Health Caucus, AVMA, AAVMC, the One Health Commission and a coalition of over 70 organizational U.S. One Health partners.

 One Health CertifiedTM, a comprehensive animal care program, establishes verified animal production practices in five core areas: disease prevention, veterinary care, responsible antibiotic use, animal welfare, and environmental impacts.