Endorsements

Julie L. Gerberding, MD, MPH, Director

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

June 26, 2007 – U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

“This is fantastic news [RE: June 25, 2007 adopted AMA One Health resolution]. I am sure I speak for all of CDC in voicing my complete enthusiasm and support for the “One Health” movement.  I appreciate the leadership that AMA and AVMA are providing in creating this powerful network of health protection.  And you can quote me anytime/anywhere it is helpful.”

D.A.Henderson, MD, MPH

Professor of Medicine and Public Health, University of Pittsburgh. Resident Scholar, Center for Biosecurity, U. of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Service Professor. Dean Emeritus, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Pier IV Building, Suite 210, Baltimore, Maryland 21202

April 22, 2007 Dr. D. A. Henderson, legendary leader of the worldwide smallpox eradication program.

I thank you for your email and congratulate you and your colleagues in promoting the “One Medicine” concept. It is an initiative that is long overdue but, at the same time, I don’t personally identify dramatic solutions that are apt to change the landscape in the short term. I would note that when one has had the good fortune to have enjoyed the tutelage of Jim Steele during my tenure at CDC and periodically ever since, as a friend, the one medicine concept becomes well engrained. Indeed, when I came to Hopkins as Dean in 1977, I cast about to determine how we might link up with a veterinary school for research and educational purposes. Unfortunately, geography was simply too great a hurdle to overcome.

Bottom line: I would be more than happy to do whatever I could in support of your efforts.

Ronald M. Davis, MD

President, American Medical Association Director, Center for Health Promotion & Disease Prevention. Henry Ford Health System One Ford Place, 5C Detroit, Michigan 48202-3450

July 3, 2007 – American Medical Association (AMA)

“I’m delighted that the AMA House of Delegates has approved a resolution calling for increased collaboration between the human and veterinary medical communities and I look forward to seeing a stronger partnership between physicians and veterinarians.  Emerging infectious diseases, with the threats of cross-species transmission and pandemics, represent one of many reasons why the human and veterinary medical professions must work more closely together.”

Bill Frist, MD

Nashville, Tennessee

August 4, 2007 – Former U.S. Senate Majority Leader

“From 20 years in medicine to 12 years in the Senate, from treating infectious diseases in my heart transplant patients to studying gorilla health in Rwanda, I conclude that an understanding of One Health is fundamental to the safety and well-being of future generations.  As the world grows smaller, the significance of One Health explodes larger.”

Rolf Zinkernagel, MD, PhD

March 23, 2007 from 1996 Nobel laureate physician [for physiology or medicine], Dr. Rolf Zinkernagel:

I thank you for your kind e-mail of 13 March. You probably know that I am not a DVM but only an MD. Of course what you formulate in your letter is and has been always my conviction. Nevertheless, I will first contact Peter Doherty and ask him how we should proceed.

Peter C. Doherty, DVM, PhD

Department of Immunology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 332 North Lauderdale, Memphis TN 38105

Dr. Zinkernagel was joined by his co-Nobelist colleague, veterinarian Dr. Peter Doherty with his thoughts for encouraging the implementation of “One Medicine” via colleges of veterinary medicine March 27, 2007:

Anything that gets more young veterinary graduates into research is to be welcomed, but I fear that much of the problem lies with the vet schools and with the onerous requirements for various board certifications. Would suggest that, if it hasn’t been done, a task force comprised of researchers (not necessarily DVMs) who are working successfully in vet schools would be a good place to start with this issue.

Karl M. Johnson, MD

Past Director, Middle America Research Unit National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Disease, NIH Founding Chief, Special Pathogens Branch, CDC (retired) 10 Calle Final Placitas, NM 87043

November 15, 2008 – Eminent virologists, Drs. Karl Johnson (physician) and Fred Murphy (veterinarian) worked at CDC as co-equal investigators, together discovering the etiologic agent of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, the Ebola virus. Dr. Johnson described their “One Health” collaborations:

Fred Murphy and I collaborated on zoonotic viruses, their pathogenesis, epidemiology, and ecology; initially at great distance but later in daily contact at CDC.  Although Ebola virus was perhaps the most notable project, our work over many years truly exemplifies the concept of One World, One Medicine, One Health.

My prayer is that support, both scientific and financial, for the marriage of human and veterinary medicine will grow at an ever expanding rate.  The earth requires it.

Frederick A. Murphy, DVM, PhD

University of Texas Medical Branch Department of Pathology Galveston, TX 77555-0609 famurphy@utmb.edu

November  15, 2008 – Dr. Fred Murphy (veterinarian), Dr. Johnson’s CDC colleague-collaborator in the discovery and identification of the etiologic agent of Ebola hemorrhagic fever, the Ebola virus.

My recent delving into the foundations of medical and veterinary virology has provided much evidence of common roots and incredible early interplay, much more than we see today. For example, Walter Reed and his colleagues, the discoverers of the first human virus, yellow fever virus, acknowledged the influence of Friedrich Loeffler and Paul Frosch, who had discovered the first virus, foot-and-mouth disease virus, a few years earlier.

From my reading, it was Sir William Osler, the founder of modern human medicine and of veterinary pathology, who in the late 1800s coined the term One Medicine. Calvin Schwabe, the inspiring veterinary epidemiologist from UC Davis, has been credited with revitalizing the concept, and now it seems that the concept is gaining new breadth and depth, thanks to the efforts of the One Health Initiative. As others have noted, bringing substance to the concept, shaking up institutions and individuals, will require a difficult and long-term effort, especially as this applies to the interplay of physicians, veterinarians and biological scientists in biomedical research and in the scholarly base for public health – but, as Arnold Palmer said, “Never up, never in.”

I applaud your efforts and would be glad to help in any way I can.

Other supporters and a historic milestone:

Present & Former Surgeon General Supporters of “One Health”

General Gale S. Pollock
Acting Surgeon General of the U.S. Army

Richard H. Carmona, MD, MPH, FACS
USPHS Surgeon General 2002-2006

C. Everette Koop, MD, ScD
USPHS Surgeon General 1981-1989

Photo by Joseph L. Murphy, MD

Important “One Health” 21st-century History:

June 2007- American Medical Association Meeting during “One Health” resolution
testimony.  Historic resolution subsequently adopted. (see publication link)

Left to right: Ronald M. Davis, MD, President AMA, Roger K. Mahr, DVM, President, American Veterinary Medical Association and Laura H. Kahn, MD, MPH, MPP of Princeton University.

The AMA “One Health” resolution was originally drafted by Dr. Kahn under Dr. Davis’s guidance. Thomas P. Monath, MD and Bruce Kaplan, DVM assisted.  The historic “One Health” liaison between AVMA and AMA [in effect today] was fostered by collaboration between Drs. Mahr and Davis.