One Health Publications
Tackling pork tapeworm through a One Health approach
April 23, 2021
Pork tapeworm: a parasite that afflicts poor, marginalised farming and rural communities within 56 countries across the globe. Matt Dixon looks at how a One Health strategy could drive down infections and prevent a major cause of epilepsy in low and middle income countries, neurocysticercosis.
Matthew A. Dixon 23 Apr 2021
“… T. solium is a complex One Health problem that thrives on the close interaction between pigs, people, and places.
One Health has been defined as:
“The recognition that the health of humans, animals and ecosystems are interconnected”. …”
View PublicationWhat Is Planetary Health?
April 23, 2021
“… Similarly, the idea of global health recognizes that the obstacles to health differ among populations, that socioeconomic factors are central determinants of health outcomes, and that wealth and health are connected. Finally, one health observes that the health of people, wild and domesticated animals, and natural living systems are also connected. …”
View PublicationAmerican University of the Caribbean School of Medicine to Host Disaster Medicine Virtual Conference
April 21, 2021
Posted Apr 21, 2021
“ … On Wednesday, April 28, AUC and the Caribbean Center for Disaster Medicine will host a 2021 International Conference featuring global disaster medicine thought leaders from across disciplines including medicine, nursing, public health, veterinary medicine, government and more. The focus of the day will be prevention, preparedness, response, mitigation and recovery from all-hazards events.
According to a 2020 report published by the US Agency for International Development and the Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, disasters claimed approximately 1.23 million lives and affected a total of over 4 billion people between 2000 – 2019. Natural disasters affect everyone, from the elderly, families and children to pets and livestock. This year’s conference will highlight this concept of One Health, the idea that Zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19 are more likely to emerge as the link between humans and animals strengthens. …”
View PublicationAnatomy Of A Spillover: We Failed To Stop SARS-CoV-2. How Do We Find Next ‘Big One’?
April 20, 2021
Heard on All Things Considered
Audio will be available later today.
“In movies such as Contagion, a pandemic begins in a flash. A deadly virus spills over from an animal, like a pig, into humans and then quickly triggers an outbreak.
But that’s not actually what happens, says Dr. Gregory Gray* at the Duke Global Health Institute. “It’s not like in the movies,” he says, “where this virus goes from a pig in Indonesia and causes a pandemic.” …
… Now, writing in the journal Viruses, Gray and his colleagues propose an alternative approach to hunting down new viruses, which, they believe, will have a better chance of stopping the next pandemic.
The approach takes into account the latest information about how human pathogens emerge from wildlife and how pandemics begin.
*Note: Gregory C. Gray MD, MPH, FIDSA is a member of the One Health Initiative team’s Advisory Board.
View Publication
Statement on the seventh meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic
April 20, 2021
19 April 2021 Statement
The seventh meeting of the Emergency Committee convened by the WHO Director-General under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR) regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) took place on Thursday, 15 April 2021 from 12:00 to 16:30 Geneva time (CEST).
“One Health
Promote One Health approaches to better understand and reduce the risk of spill-over of emerging infections from animal to human populations and from humans to animals, including from domestic animals.
Work with partners to develop and disseminate joint risk-based guidance for regulation of wet markets and farms to reduce transmission of novel pathogens from humans to animals and vice-versa.
One Health
Strengthen regulation of wet markets and discourage the sale or import of wild animals that pose a high risk of transmission of novel pathogens from animals to humans or vice versa.
Conduct risk-based monitoring of animal populations to reduce disease transmission from animals to humans. Monitoring efforts should prioritize potential high-risk animal populations that may become reservoirs or lead to emergence of novel viruses or variants.”
View PublicationOne Health: Preventing and combating pandemics worldwide
April 19, 2021
Project description
Title: Global Project on Pandemic Prevention and Preparedness, One Health
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Global
Overall term: 2021 to 2024
“ … The pathogen causing this pandemic, SARS-CoV-2, has drawn attention to the importance of zoonotic diseases, in other words diseases that can be transferred from animals to humans. Many infectious diseases that are widespread among humans have their origin in the animal realm. Experts estimate that there are still around 1.7 million unknown viruses in wild mammals and birds. Of these, approximately 700,000 have the potential to cross over to humans. …
… The term ‘One Health’ stands for an end-to-end, interdisciplinary approach. It strives to improve global health and reduce risks. To this end, One Health considers interdependencies and interactions between human, animal and environmental health. …
… One Health is committed to preventive measures in all three areas. The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) strives to mainstream this approach in international (development) cooperation across different sectors. … ”
View PublicationFighting COVID-19 in animals and humans, a one health approach
April 18, 2021
Fighting COVID-19 in animals and humans, a one health approach
Status: ongoing project
Results of this research will provide evidence-based advice on how to deal with animals in the COVID-19 pandemic that is urgently needed at the national or international level.
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Anti-Vaxxers and Vaccine Hesitancy: A Cottage Industry Gone Big Time
April 15, 2021
HEALTH, POLITICS & FOREIGN AFFAIRS, SOCIETY
by *Richard Seifman – Board Member, United Nations Association-National Capital Area
*Note: Seifman is a member of the One Health Initiative Advisory Board
View PublicationRanking the risk of animal-to-human spillover for newly discovered viruses
April 12, 2021
Significance
The recent emergence and spread of zoonotic viruses, including Ebola virus and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, demonstrate that animal-sourced viruses are a very real threat to global public health. Virus discovery efforts have detected hundreds of new animal viruses with unknown zoonotic risk. We developed an open-source risk assessment to systematically evaluate novel wildlife-origin viruses in terms of their zoonotic spillover and spread potential. Our tool will help scientists and governments assess and communicate risk, informing national disease prioritization, prevention, and control actions. The resulting watchlist of potential pathogens will identify targets for new virus countermeasure initiatives, which can reduce the economic and health impacts of emerging diseases.
Abstract
The death toll and economic loss resulting from the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic are stark reminders that we are vulnerable to zoonotic viral threats. Strategies are needed to identify and characterize animal viruses that pose the greatest risk of spillover and spread in humans and inform public health interventions. Using expert opinion and scientific evidence, we identified host, viral, and environmental risk factors contributing to zoonotic virus spillover and spread in humans. We then developed a risk ranking framework and interactive web tool, SpillOver, that estimates a risk score for wildlife-origin viruses, creating a comparative risk assessment of viruses with uncharacterized zoonotic spillover potential alongside those already known to be zoonotic. Using data from testing 509,721 samples from 74,635 animals as part of a virus discovery project and public records of virus detections around the world, we ranked the spillover potential of 887 wildlife viruses. Validating the risk assessment, the top 12 were known zoonotic viruses, including SARS-CoV-2. Several newly detected wildlife viruses ranked higher than known zoonotic viruses. Using a scientifically informed process, we capitalized on the recent wealth of virus discovery data to systematically identify and prioritize targets for investigation. The publicly accessible SpillOver platform can be used by policy makers and health scientists to inform research and public health interventions for prevention and rapid control of disease outbreaks. SpillOver is a living, interactive database that can be refined over time to continue to improve the quality and public availability of information on viral threats to human health.
Global One Health initiative awarded CDC Cooperative Agreement to expand capacity and strengthen public health systems in Ethiopia
April 9, 2021
Apr 7, 2021
Source: CDC
The Ohio State University Global One Health initiative (GOHi) has been awarded $5.61 million in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to fight the COVID-19 pandemic and bolster Ethiopia’s public health system capacity for small- and large-scale disease outbreaks and emergencies.
Since 2009, GOHi has been on the front lines in Ethiopia working with in-country partners to strengthen capacity using a One Health approach—one that brings together multiple disciplines working globally to address the spread of disease, promote health and emphasize the connection among humans, animals, plants and the environment.
As new diseases emerge, the need for health system preparedness across the globe is vital for nations to prevent spread of pathogens, detect and report epidemics, and respond to and mitigate the spread of those epidemics. The current COVID-19 pandemic urgently underscored these needs. Under-preparedness in one country, is a global risk to all. …
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Why India needs a ‘One Health’ vision to tackle the crisis caused by the pandemic
April 7, 2021
‘One Health’ initiatives, by their multidisciplinary nature, entail working across ministries and navigating tacit institutional hierarchies and allocating leadership roles. This holistic view of health is important in the post-pandemic scenario.
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One Health Initiative team member honored by University of Florida (UF) Alumni Association
April 6, 2021
Helena Chapman
BS ’03, MPH ’05, Ph.D ’16 | Arlington, VA
TITLE: Associate Program Manager, Health and Air Quality Applications, NASA Applied Sciences Progam
COMPANY: Booz Allen Hamilton/NASA
INDUSTRY: Government Services
Minor in One Health | Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health
April 5, 2021
Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health – University of Arizona
The groundbreaking field of One Health – understanding how human health is deeply interconnected with animal health and environmental health …
View Publication
Vaccination as a Control Tool in Bovine Tuberculosis: Social Media Monitoring to Assess Public Response to Government Policy Development and Implementation
April 4, 2021
By DocWire News Featured Reading –
Abstract
Quick Links
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Please see MONOGRAPH in Veterinaria Italiana
“One Health – One Medicine”: linking human, animal and environmental health
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History of the One Health Initiative team and website (April 2006 through September 2015) and the One Health Initiative website since October 1, 2008 … revised to June 2020 and again to date February 2021
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Vaccines for zoonoses: a One Health paradigm
SciTech Europa Quarterly (March 2018) – Issue 26
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Pan European Networks SciTech Europa Quarterly
SciTech Europa Vaccines for zoonoses: a one Health paradigm – Pages 227-229 (Read PDF) “One of the One Health Initiative team’s co-founders and leaders is an internationally-recognized eminent physician…
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