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Emerging Infectious Diseases Journal – U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Volume 16, Number 8–August 2010 Conference Summary One Health Approach to Influenza: Assessment of Critical Issues and Options1 Thomas F. Powdrill, Terry L. Nipp, and Jennifer L. Rinderknecht Author affiliation: Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA A task force of experts on influenza, public health, and animal health met at the conference One Health Approach to Influenza: Assessment of Critical Issues and Options in Washington, DC, on December 1–2, 2009. These experts discussed the role of the One Health approach in preparing for and responding to an influenza pandemic or other emerging zoonotic disease by using pandemic (H1N1) 2009 as a case study. The meeting was convened by the US Department of Homeland Security National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease Defense, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/National Institutes of Health Western Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases. The One Health concept is the realization that human, animal, and environmental health are interrelated. In practice, it is imperative to implement a One Health approach to high-consequence zoonotic diseases. Although pandemic (H1N1) 2009 virus has primarily affected humans (with some documented human-to-animal transmission), the genesis of this circulating human virus involved reassortment of viral genomic segments from human, porcine, and avian influenza virus lineages. The task force focused on 4 topics: 1) epidemiology and surveillance, 2) transmission dynamics, 3) immunobiology and vaccines, and 4) molecular approaches and pathobiology.  READ MORE: http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/16/8/e1.htm