SEE: In Memoriam, James H. Steele, DVM, MPH: Dr. Steele, a One Health leader, died November 10, 2013 – One Health Initiative

Dr. James H. Steele, known as the “father of veterinary epidemiology” said good human health requires good animal health.

Dr. Steele didn’t just advocate for animal health; he fundamentally changed how we view the interconnectedness of all living things. By bridging the gap between veterinary medicine and global public health, he essentially laid the foundation for what we now call One Health.

His philosophy—that the health of humans is inextricably linked to the health of animals and the environment—is more relevant today than ever.

A foundational pioneer of the One Health movement, which champions the inseparable link between human, animal, and environmental health.

Key Contributions to One Health

• Founding the CDC Veterinary Division: In 1947, Dr. Steele established the Veterinary Public Health Division at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), integrating veterinary medicine into mainstream public health infrastructure.
• Pioneering Zoonotic Disease Control: He spent his career studying and controlling diseases shared by animals and humans (zoonoses) on a global scale, helping shape programs for the World Health Organization (WHO) and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). “As the first US assistant surgeon general for veterinary affairs at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, he pioneered the simple but powerful philosophy that human health is intimately connected to the health of animals and our surrounding environment.” as noted by the American Veterinary One Health Society (AVOHS) formerly called American Veterinary Epidemiology Society.]
• Advocating “One World, One Health”: Long before the modern terminology became a global standard, he promoted the holistic concept that modern medicine must embrace “One World, One Health, One Medicine”.

The Legacy of Dr. James H. Steele

Why It Matters Today

In an era of global travel and habitat encroachment, Dr. Steele’s warning is a modern reality. Whether it is managing avian influenza or understanding the origins of COVID-19, we are constantly reminded that we cannot protect humans without also protecting the animals we live alongside.

“The health of the people is the highest law.” — A sentiment Dr. Steele lived by, extending that ‘people’ could only be healthy if their animals were too.

To learn more about this global public health “Giant” read:

“You can’t run an Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy as an army of one,” a former White House official said.

“Dr. Sara Brenner is on detail from HHS to lead the Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response in order to assist with the White House’s response to the multiple ongoing outbreaks,” the spokesperson wrote.

The Summer 2026 issue of the American Public Health Association (APHA) One Health Newsletter was officially released on July 24, 2026. Managed by the APHA One Health Section’s Communications and Editorial Team, this quarterly online publication features articles, updates, and collaborative research submitted by community members to advance the global understanding of interconnected human, animal, and ecosystem health.

The current Cyclospora outbreak exposes the consequences of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) agenda for food safety, zoonotic diseases, life-protecting vaccinations, childhood chronic disease, obesity, and other public health challenges in the United States — an agenda that appears inescapable for the duration of the Trump administration

Editor’s note, Winston Churchill’s famously quoted 19th-century poem “The Clattering Train” aptly applies to the hurtling decline of the U.S. protective public health infrastructure:

Who is in charge of the clattering train?
The axles creak, and the couplings strain;
And the pace is hot, and the points are near,
And Sleep has deadened the driver’s ear;
And signals flash through the night in vain,
For Death is in charge of the clattering train!

Simple Summary

Environmental change, biodiversity loss, emerging infectious diseases, antibiotic resistance, and growing inequalities are increasingly interconnected, creating growing risks for people, animals, and ecosystems. Global One Health strategies and funding mechanisms are important, but implementation at the local community level remains uneven, poorly coordinated, and weakly evaluated. We propose a practical, repeatable model that strengthens community-level One Health action through voluntary global collaboration among civil society organisations. The model links local mobilisation with interdisciplinary scientific support, shared monitoring and evaluation templates, and iterative learning cycles, organised through themed Working Groups. The framework focuses on seven goal-based areas: surveillance and early warning; animal health and welfare; water, sanitation and hygiene; food safety and food systems; community awareness and education; environmental risks and ecosystem health; and multisector governance. By connecting local projects with shared analysis, joint publications, and policy dialogue, the network can transform initiatives into a coordinated learning system while preserving community and organisational independence.

Abstract

Global environmental change, biodiversity loss, emerging infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, and widening social inequalities increasingly interact to create complex risks for human, animal, and ecosystem health. Although international One Health frameworks and funding mechanisms are essential, implementation at national and especially community levels often remains uneven, fragmented, and weakly evaluated. This Perspective presents a structured, reproducible networking model designed to strengthen community-level One Health implementation through voluntary global collaboration among civil society organisations. The model connects bottom-up community mobilisation with interdisciplinary scientific support, shared evaluation templates, and iterative learning cycles. It outlines a transparent process for identifying and engaging One Health-oriented organisations and for organising their collaboration through thematic Project Working Groups that support situation analysis, strategic planning, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination. The framework translates community action into seven intervention fields: surveillance and early warning, animal health and welfare, water/sanitation/hygiene, food safety and food systems, community awareness and education, environmental risks and ecosystem health, and multisectoral governance. By linking local practice to comparative synthesis, joint publication, and policy dialogue, the network aims to transform isolated initiatives into a coordinated learning system while preserving community and organisational autonomy. As a conceptual framework, the model is ready for empirical testing in diverse settings to assess feasibility, participation, and evaluation quality.

Institute for Health in the Human Ecosystem virtual program equips scientists worldwide with tools to fight infectious diseases

Cheryl Stroud [DVM, PhD] of the One Health Commission says the dairy cattle outbreak reveals gaps in communication across animal agriculture

As climate change increasingly threatens public health, countries across the region are developing new approaches to resilient health systems, intersectoral governance, and sustainable climate-health financing