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

The health of people is connected to the health of animals and the environment, which are all affected by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The Soulsby Foundation is now open for Veterinary & Medical graduates who have a proposal for an impactful project in the field of One Health, especially internationally, to apply for a Soulsby Fellowship up to the value of £20K

After nearly nine years of highly successful publications with contacts worldwide, the One Health Newsletter (OHNL) is being transferred to the auspices of the Kansas State University.

The One Health Newsletter was initiated in 2008 by the Florida Department of Health (USA) and published through the winter of 2014 https://goo.gl/hjUWod.  It was then transitioned to the University of Florida (Emerging Pathogens Institute) which published until 2017 https://goo.gl/ATajrK [provided courtesy Mary M. Merrill, MHS, former University of Florida OHNL co-editor].Kansas State University faculty, staff, and students plan to feature current issues and innovations in One Heath in each edition, which will include 3-5 stories that will provide professionals and students a go-to source Of One Health news.

A Must Read! One Health and The Great Nutrient Collapse:  Another quintessential One Health Challenge - this one on the food security/quality front. Please read all the way to the end to discover the One Health challenge that a mathematician wanting to learn about and contribute to plant biology experienced.

Heather Fowler, VMD, PhD, recently received her PhD in Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences through the Center for One Health Research at the University of Washington (UW). Mentored by Peter Rabinowitz, M.D., MPH, she received the coveted Gilbert S. Omenn 2017 Award for Academic Excellence among hundreds in the UW School of Public Health, and gave the student address at the June graduation ceremony inviting her colleagues to join her in the practice of One Health. See the Video and transcript of her speech.
 

Scientists, medical and public health professionals, animal health professionals, ecologists, architecture and green building professionals, community officials and organizers, educators, and students are invited to join us for One Health, One Planet, an exciting new symposium held at Phipps to explore the interconnectedness of environmental, human and animal health and examine the relationship between health and the built and natural environments in which we live, work, learn and play. 

Norway is the only country to have implemented a "search and destroy" strategy against LA-MRSA among pig herds to date. A study of the strategy's effect shows that pig farm workers are the principal source of infection among Norwegian herds, a transmission route that was previously unidentified

Join Abt Associates and distinguished speakers for a discussion on the causes and consequences of infectious disease pandemics.

Envision our world as three circles representing people, animals, and the environment. At the moment, these separate shapes only slightly overlap and share a small, happy space nicknamed the"Ray of Hope for the Future." That ray of hope is One Health—a growing movement that envisions a path to planetary health through One Health education and collaborations. With an excited leader at its helm, the One Health Commission is poised to encourage the merging of those three circles into one unified, healthy world.

"Throughout the last few decades, diseases that spill over from animals to humans have been on the rise. What’s behind their increase, and can we do anything to combat these dangerous foes? Join scientists as they investigate the rise of spillover viruses like Zika, Ebola and Nipah, and learn what science can do to anticipate and prevent epidemics around the world."

"Spillover — Zika, Ebola & Beyond is a harrowing drama that follows scientists into the world's hot zones in a search for answers. And it does so while providing much needed scientific context for the most recent Ebola and Zika outbreaks. Battle-hardened health workers and survivors share their untold stories, such as how a courageous band of Nigerians jumped into the breach to stop Ebola from turning into a truly global pandemic."

Excerpt: "A MEMORANDUM of understanding between the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) and the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) was renewed on November 16 with the aim of strengthening cooperation between doctors and veterinarians in Europe.

The memorandum of understanding sets out an interprofessional cooperation framework for both disciplines to act together in recognition of the One Health concept. One key area of collaboration is antimicrobial resistance. Katrín Fjeldsted, president of the CPME, said: ‘It is only by working together that we will win against antimicrobial resistance. The CPME-FVE memorandum of understanding, by identifying joint actions to be undertaken in this field, is part of this collaborative exercise.’

In addition to action on antimicrobial resistance, the FVE and CPME also agreed to closer cooperation on issues relating to professional regulation, as well as to ensuring awareness across both disciplines in other policy areas, such as the ongoing negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership."

Vets and doctors pledge to cooperate on One Health. Veterinary Record. 2015;177(21):533.2-533. doi:10.1136/vr.h6368.

Excerpt: "Southeast Asia is recognized as a hotspot for new viruses—it’s where virus hunters go to figure out what to put in next year’s flu vaccines. O’Leary says that Vietnam’s large population of domestic ducks, chickens, and pigs makes the country particularly vulnerable. “There’s a lot of potential contact with human populations,” he says. And then there’s the continued impact of human activity on forests. “The forests have been extensively logged, and so the opportunities for wildlife, for instance, to come into contact with domestic animals and into contact with humans are great,” he says.

Public health leaders in Vietnam are well aware that the country is a breeding ground for new diseases. And they’re sold on One Health, both for Vietnam itself and for global health security. “Diseases used to be enclosed in certain regions or countries,” says Dr. Tran Dac Phu, head of the Ministry of Health’s Preventive Health Department. “Now globalization has made them easier to spread.” In 2003, Vietnam was the second country to report a case of SARS, a disease that whipped up waves of panic as it threatened to spread around the world. It was also the first country to contain the outbreak."

"I write in support of the sentiments shared by seven U.S. Senators in a February 12, 2015 letter and the May 21, 2015 letter from the American Public Health Association to you advocating for a multidisciplinary “One Health” approach to pandemic prevention. This approach considers the integral connections between human, animal and environmental health to more effectively address the current and future disease threat within the United States and globally."

Pioneers of the One Health movement to blend human, veterinary and environmental health are gaining respect, epidemic by epidemic, but capturing the attention of the human health care establishment remains a challenge.

“You have to take the long view,” acknowledged Laura H. Kahn, MD, MPH, of the One Health Initiative team. “It took people over a century to realize the significance of basic sanitation, and lots of countries don’t even have that.”

The argument for improving public health education through case studies and blending disciplines has been made for the past decade, setting the stage for interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary education that will build workforce capacity in science and practice to solve complex public health problems.

Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which has sickened at least 495 people, killed 141, and now popped up in the United States, has much in common with other recent outbreaks, including SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, which killed some 775 patients in 2002 and 2003: They can spread rapidly across borders, stir up fear in the public, and be transmitted from human to human.

Link to Full Article by Dr. Laura H. Kahn

In this book editors Ronald M. Atlas and Stanley Maloy have compiled 20 chapters written by interdisciplinary experts that present core concepts, compelling evidence, successful applications, and the remaining challenges of One Health approaches to thwarting the threat of emerging infectious disease.  It is a valuable resource for physicians, veterinarians, environmental scientists, microbiologists, public health workers and policy makers, and others who want to understand the interdependence of human, animal, and ecosystem health.

In recent years, the emergence of several highly pathogenic zoonotic diseases in humans has led to... 

"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."

The vision of this seminal publication in One Health history is to create "A world capable of preventing, detecting, containing, eliminating, and responding to animal and public health risks attributable to zoonoses and animal diseases with an impact on food security through multi-sectoral cooperation and strong partnerships."

This concept note focuses on  "Sharing responsibilities and coordinating global activities to address health risks at the animal-human-ecosystems interfaces" published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO). 

São Paulo, June 9, 2008: The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), a non-governmental organization based in the United States with offices in Brazil, announced that five projects will receive financial support during the first year of the One World-One Health (OWOH) program in Brazil.