ROLE OF VETERINARIANS AND ONE HEALTH IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ZOONOSES
INTRODUCTION
Veterinarians look after the health of animals and seek to protect the public’s health. They diagnose, treat, and research pet, livestock, and other animal medical problems and diseases. “By vaccinating companion animals against zoonotic illnesses like rabies, ensuring animal-based food is safe for human consumption, and educating the public on biosafety and biosecurity principles, veterinarians actively limit the spread of zoonotic disease. Veterinarians have a responsibility to protect environmental health and demand action to minimize climate change in their capacity as animal health and welfare advocates.” Hence, Veterinarians are the key players in fight against zoonotic disease.
THE CONTEXT OF EMERGING ZOONOSES
At least 75% of emerging diseases have been confirmed to have a zoonotic origin, with diverse animal species serving as main reservoirs. Epidemics and/or pandemics such as the Spanish flu, H1N1, SARS, MERS, and Ebola are notable instances of these zoonoses. All of the etiological agents in those cases were first discovered in animals and then transferred to humans. In most situations, when a pathogen crosses a species barrier, the illness does not survive or develop in the heterologous host. However, like with the HIV virus, there is a risk that it may grow more pathogenic and virulent, with effects that are nearly hard to foresee. The high morbidity and imminent risks of epidemics/pandemics converging to result in the emergence of new diseases make it imperative and necessary to intensify studies in which veterinarians are responsible for identifying and revealing the risks, critical points, and other epidemiological aspects involved in the transmission of infectious diseases.
ONE HEALTH APPROACH
One Health is gaining recognition in the United States and across the world as a viable strategy for combating health problems at the human-animal-environment interface, such as zoonotic infections. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) takes a One Health approach to monitoring and controlling public health threats and learning about how diseases spread among people, animals, plants, and the environment by involving experts from human, animal, environmental, and other relevant disciplines and sectors. Human, animal, and environmental health partners must work together for successful public health initiatives. Human health professionals (doctors, nurses, public health practitioners, epidemiologists), animal health professionals (veterinarians, paraprofessionals, agricultural workers), environmental professionals (ecologists, wildlife experts), and others must communicate, collaborate, and coordinate activities. Law enforcement, politicians, farmers, communities, and even pet owners may all be important actors in a One Health strategy. Issues at the animal-human-environment interaction cannot be addressed by a single individual, institution, or sector.
ROLE OF VETERINARIANS IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ZOONOSES
By implementing the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Program, veterinarians may assist in the management and monitoring of biting canines and dogs. They can also help prevent rabies by vaccination stray dogs in urban and peri-urban areas with anti-rabies vaccine (ARV). Municipal governments undoubtedly collaborate with veterinary service providers to track the amount of stray dogs in a certain region and spay or sterilise them. Anti-rabies vaccinations are quite efficient, and no one should die from rabies spread by dogs. It is now possible to eradicate rabies in dogs, which would drastically reduce human mortality. Every year on September 28th, World Rabies Day (WRD) commemorates the death of Louis Pasteur, who created the first effective rabies vaccine with the help of his colleagues. On World Rabies Day, September 28th, 2021, activities and goals will centre on raising awareness about the impact of rabies on humans and animals, providing information and guidance on how to avoid the illness in at-risk areas, and providing support for rabies control implementation initiatives. The importance of wildlife as reservoirs of human diseases has also been widely recognized for most of the parasitic zoonoses, including American and African trypanosomiasis, leishmaniasis, giardiasis, cryptosporidiosis, balantidiasis, fascioliasis, opisthorchiasis, clonorchiasis, paragonimiasis, schistosomiasis, echinococcosis, taeniasis, diphyllobothriasis, sparganosis, dipylidiasis, trichinellosis, toxocariasis, strongyloidiasis, and Ancylostoma caninum and A. braziliense infections.
CONCLUSION
The consumption and sale of wild animals, the inadequate application of food security regulations, the spread of urbanisation into rural regions, and frequent direct contact with animal reservoirs are recognised as the primary risk factors that contribute to outbreaks. From a veterinary standpoint, all of these issues may be addressed with preventative measures, which are the resolutive skills of this profession. It is important to be prepared in order to avoid future developing zoonoses. The most successful method may be to preserve natural boundaries between reservoir animals and human culture, while incorporating the One Health ethos into these efforts. Despite being the weakest link, the veterinarian must take the lead in research and activities that largely include prevention and monitoring, which are necessary for preserving public health, particularly in the case of new and reemerging zoonoses.
CHIDAMBARANATHAN.A
3RD YEAR B.V.Sc. & A.H,
VETERINARY COLLEGE & RESEARCH INSTITUTE – TIRUNELVELI, TANUVAS, TAMILNADU, INDIA.
GUIDED BY
D R. V. RAMAKRISHNAN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
VETERINARY COLLEGE AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE – TIRUNELVELI
TANUVAS – CHENNAI
https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/one-health
