One Health Movement News / One Health Topics 'in' the News

A One Health approach considers the role of changing environments with regard to infectious and chronic disease risks affecting humans and nonhuman animals. Recent disease emergence events have lent support to a One Health approach. In 2010, the Stone Mountain Working Group on One Health Proof of Concept assembled and evaluated the evidence regarding proof of concept of the One Health approach to disease prediction and control. Aspects examined included the feasibility of integrating human, animal, and environmental health and whether such integration could improve disease prediction and control efforts. They found evidence to support each of these concepts but also identified the need for greater incorporation of environmental and ecosystem factors into disease assessments and interventions. The findings of the Working Group argue for larger controlled studies to evaluate the comparative effectiveness of the One Health approach. 

The One Health Community honors the contributions of Dr. Steele

Dr Steele came to CDC in 1947, just after its beginning. There was no road map for the work he did—he was a pioneer, creating CDC’s veterinary public health program. He pioneered the integration of veterinary public health into the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The message of the One Health Initiative is that human health and animal health are inextricably linked: we cannot have good public health unless we have good animal health, and we cannot have good animal health unless we have good public health. Jim Steele was a father of the One Health Initiative. He didn’t merely profess this concept—he practiced it for 7 decades, and he taught it to younger generations of veterinarians.

Statement details the essential role of veterinarians in protecting animal, human, public and environmental health

The One Health movement, during the 20th century and the early 21st century, has documented a powerful case for implementing this critically needed approach to assist solving many of the world’s health problems in both the public health and clinical health sectors. Time is not on the side of the health care communities of planet earth. Witness the known crisis evolving with antibiotic resistance which is causing many to speak of threats to human (and animal) life with a frightening new “post antibiotic” era lurking in the near future. We can imagine a time where a routine strep (sore) throat—a bacterial infection typically treated and cured with an antibiotic—could no longer have an effective antibiotic available or even be in the pharmaceutical pipeline!

How do we reconcile the developed world’s concern about
emerging diseases, and a critical need for international
development resources to tackle all infectious disease
threats, emerging and endemic?

Three short video films raise awareness on the ravages caused by rabies and the resources that must be mobilised to control the disease

"SCOH is a Standing Committee of the International Veterinary Students’ Association (IVSA) which was founded at the 62nd IVSA Congress in Utrecht, The Netherlands, based on the proposal of Pim Polak (IVSA The Netherlands). SCoH is one of three IVSA Standing Committees, the others being the Animal Welfare Committee and the Standing Committee on Veterinary Education (SCoVE). The first Chair of SCOH was Theofanis Liatis (IVSA Thessaloniki), who served also as a Member of ExCo 2013/2014 (Veterinary Public Health Director).

The one health concept is directly related to one of IVSA’s objectives, as stated in the Constitution, namely to “Encourage veterinary students to use their knowledge and abilities for the benefit of both animals and humans”. The role of SCOH is twofold: One Health & Veterinary Public Health. This committee aims to promote the importance of One Health and the interdisciplinary collaboration between vets and other public health related scientists as well as awareness of the role of Veterinary Public Health. The role of SCOH is important for IVSA and its members, as it broadens the collaborations of vets, spreads knowledge of veterinary public health, provides opportunities in this sector and promotes activity of the members within local and global projects."

After a successful introduction in Chicago, watch for this mobile exhibit in other cities later this year

Living on a planet with more than seven billion people and countless more animals, viruses have many options to invade - and they're not picky. Viruses often jump from animals to humans, causing many diseases ranging from avian flu to Lyme disease, West Nile virus to severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). 

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) estimates that more than 60 percent of emerging infectious diseases in humans are transmitted from animals in a process called zoonoses. Though some diseases transmit from livestock, many more - at least 74 percent - come from wildlife, which is most likely a result of human encroachment into animals' habitats. Making matters worse, some diseases, such as anthrax, can be harvested for bio-terrorism.

"New York (May 16, 2013) – In the new medical textbook, Jekel’s Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Preventive Medicine, and Public Health (Elsevier, 2013), Wildlife Conservation Society veterinarian and Director of Health Policy, Dr. Steve Osofsky, offers a holistic approach to meeting challenges that result from humanity’s ongoing population growth, globalization trends, and unsustainable demand for earth’s finite natural resources.

As the human population grows and becomes more interconnected, there is increased need for land, food, water and energy. These pressures have implications for health, economies and the environment that sustains us all. Dr. Osofsky and his co-author Dr. Meredith A. Barrett, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholar at UC San Francisco and UC Berkeley, point out that too often in today’s world individual disciplines related to the environment, climate, human behavior, food and agriculture, and economic development – function largely in isolation. Their chapter is called One Health: Interdependence of People, Other Species, and the Planet."

First-of-its-kind class uses horses to instill compassion in medical students

"For the next generation of doctors to develop a better bedside manner, it’s important to spend some time in a stable.

Neurosurgeon Dr. Allan Hamilton of the University of Arizona Medical Center, Tucson, is using his ranch for a first-of-its-kind class to help train first year medical students, bringing the humans in close contact with large flighty four-legged patients who can’t talk and who can be highly -- and violently -- reactive to doctors who aren’t attuned to their patients’ body language."

Traverse north by car a few hours through the bustling and sprawling city of Kampala to the rolling and lush, green hills of Luwero with its dense jungles packed with banana trees, pineapple fields and livestock, and it's easy to see why thousands of Ugandans call this picturesque but remote district home.

Food, friendly smiles and warm hospitality are abundant in Luwero, despite harsh realities and heartbreak caused by disease that has rocked local villages in recent years. Ground zero for the world's last few breakouts of Ebola--a highly contagious, often-fatal virus believed to be transmitted by animals to humans-Luwero residents are looking for answers and shelter in a storm of daily uncertainty.

Study concludes that it is crucial to address the interlinks between humans, animals and the environment to control animal brucellosis and BTB.

Flu experts on way to China according to World Health Organisation

Despite challenges exacerbated by a federal economic crisis, maintaining U.S. participation in global health initiatives is critical says Dr. Jonathan Woodson

World risks new bird flu surge if countries drop their guard

Enroll now for the call on January 10, 2013 at 10:30 a.m. Pacific TIme with the author of Zoobiquity: What Animals Can Teach Us About Health and the Science of Healing.