News

Summary

The United States faces an escalating array of interconnected biological threats that bypass traditional agency jurisdictions. The ongoing multi-billion-dollar domestic disruptions of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in livestock, combined with rising vector-borne arbovirus pressures in southern states, demonstrate that human, animal, and environmental health are fundamentally inseparable.

While individual agencies have initiated the National One Health Framework (2025–2029), executive actions remain vulnerable to shifting administrative priorities and structural funding bottlenecks. Congress must take decisive, bipartisan legislative action to permanently codify cross-agency data interoperability, eliminate asymmetrical funding gaps, and safeguard the American food supply, economy, and public health.

                    A message to the U.S. Congress

The foundational duty of the United States Congress is to protect the security, economic stability, and public welfare of the American people. In an era defined by hyper-connectivity, rapid land-use shifts, and escalating biological complexities, traditional silos within public policy no longer suffice. Threat vectors do not respect the jurisdictional boundaries dividing human medicine, veterinary medicine, agricultural infrastructure, and environmental management. A pathogen mutations in livestock can destabilize global supply chains within weeks; an environmental contaminant can silently decimate municipal water systems; a wildlife reservoir can spark a multi-billion-dollar pandemic. To address these modern systemic vulnerabilities, Congress must move past reactive crisis management. Members of both chambers must take objective, non-partisan, and decisive public affairs action to formally institutionalize and fund the One Health approach across the federal apparatus.

One Health is not an abstract ecological philosophy; it is a rigorous, transdisciplinary operational framework that acknowledges the baseline biological reality that human, animal, plant, and environmental health are inextricably linked. By prioritizing communication, data interoperability, and collaborative action among public health professionals, veterinarians, and environmental scientists, the One Health framework optimizes health outcomes and protects national security before threats escalate into societal crises. Executive and agency-level leaders have laid the critical groundwork, notably through the launch of the 2025–2029 National One Health Framework to Address Zoonotic Diseases and Advance Public Health Preparedness in the United States (NOHF-Zoonoses). However, executive frameworks are inherently vulnerable to shifting administrative priorities and structural funding bottlenecks. For this paradigm shift to yield lasting protection, Congress must act decisively to codify, fund, and structurally reinforce this model.

From a fiscal and governance perspective, the objective argument for One Health is rooted in basic economic prudence. Reactionary governance is an expensive vulnerability. The multi-trillion-dollar economic damage driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with the ongoing multi-billion-dollar agricultural disruptions caused by Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), underscores the unsustainable cost of late-stage interventions. Proactive, multisectoral surveillance drastically lowers long-term containment costs compared to emergency relief measures. Investing early in integrated diagnostic networks and ecological baseline mapping saves both human lives and taxpayer dollars. When the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), and the Department of the Interior (DOI) operate on fragmented, siloed budgets, the federal government pays multiple times for redundant data collection while missing the critical cross-sector signals that precede an outbreak.

The immediate public affairs priority for Congress is the resolution of structural funding disparities among the primary federal actors executing the National One Health Framework. Currently, federal funding is asymmetrical and fractured across individual line items. While the CDC receives vital appropriations for antimicrobial resistance tracking and food safety, and the USDA receives essential funding for livestock inspection and biosecurity via the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the environmental pillar managed by the Department of the Interior remains significantly underfunded. This financial imbalance creates a dangerous blind spot. Environmental degradation, climate-driven migratory pattern shifts, and habitat fragmentation are the primary drivers pushing wildlife pathogens into proximity with domestic animals and human suburbs. Congress must and should use its appropriations power to deliver balanced, interconnected funding lines that ensure the U.S. One Health Coordination Unit (U.S. OHCU) can operate with complete ecological and clinical visibility.

Beyond appropriations, Congress must pass comprehensive legislation to permanently codify cross-agency operational mechanisms. While bipartisan coalitions have previously introduced measures like the One Health Security Act to build a dedicated council within the Executive Office of the President, these vital concepts are frequently delayed by committee bottlenecks or absorbed piecemeal into massive omnibus bills. Standalone legislative action is required to ensure accountability and long-term continuity. Lawmakers should look to the emerging consensus within the bipartisan Congressional Doctors’ Caucuses as a model for policy design. Medical professionals serving in Congress—who regularly witness how administrative fragmentation harms patient care—are uniquely positioned to champion structural reforms like the SECURE Health Act (H.R. 8011) to solidify global health workforce strategies and interagency tasks forces under the National Security Council. By elevating One Health from a sub-agency initiative to a codified national security priority, Congress can build an enduring shield against biological threats.

Furthermore, federal actions must be designed to harmonize with and support the innovative public health strategies already advancing at the state level. In states like Minnesota, cross-agency appropriations have successfully sustained the Minnesota One Health Antibiotic Stewardship Collaborative, which actively monitors the environmental footprint of antibiotic runoff in wastewater and agricultural grids to counter antimicrobial resistance. In Ohio, bipartisan efforts have focused on deploying resources to mitigate severe rural veterinary shortages that directly threaten livestock biosecurity and public safety. Meanwhile, states like Florida leverage specialized academic infrastructure—such as the University of Florida’s One Health Center of Excellence—to track vector-borne arboviruses and marine spillover events. These state-level models prove that the One Health approach is highly effective when deployed on the ground. However, localized efforts require stable federal matching grants, open-source data interoperability standards, and synchronized national surveillance networks to protect the country.

The implementation of One Health is an objective necessity that transcends partisan divides. Protecting the food supply, preserving natural resources, securing international ports of entry, and shielding families from emerging pathogens are core responsibilities shared by every policymaker, regardless of political affiliation. The blueprint has been drawn by our nation's premier scientific, veterinary, and defense agencies. The fiscal evidence confirming the value of early prevention is undeniable. The states are already demonstrating how to break down historical barriers between disciplines. The responsibility now rests with the 119th Congress to move past passive observation and execute the legislative mandates, dedicated appropriations, and structural oversight required to make the One Health approach the permanent standard of American public policy.

References

• [1] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Agriculture, & Department of the Interior. (2024). National One Health Framework to Address Zoonotic Diseases and Advance Public Health Preparedness in the United States (2025–2029).
• [2] Ohio General Assembly. House Bill 96: Protect One Health in Ohio (OHIO) Initiative.
• [3] Minnesota Department of Health. (2025). Minnesota One Health Antibiotic Stewardship Collaborative (MOHASC) Strategic Plan.
• [4] University of Florida One Health Center of Excellence & Emerging Pathogens Institute. (2024). Epidemiological Tracking of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) and Marine-Terrestrial Pathogen Spillover.

[5] One Health Agenda Launched in the US: What Now? - Impakter

[6] Why and How to Apply the One Health Concept - Impakter