ONE WORLD, ONE HEALTH: PREVENT ZOONOSES
K.P. Singh*1 and Praneeta Singh2
Government Veterinary Hospital, Deoranian, Bareilly, Department of Animal Husbandry, Uttar Pradesh, India
1: Veterinary Officer, Government Veterinary Hospital, Deoranian, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh Email: drkpsvet@rediffmail.com
2: Assistant Professor, Department of Livestock Products Technology, C.V.A.Sc., GBPUAT, Pantnagar, U.S.Nagar, Uttrakhand Email: vet_praneeta12@rediffmail.com
*Corresponding Author: Veterinary Officer, Government Veterinary Hospital, Deoranian, Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh Email: drkpsvet@rediffmail.com
ABSTRACT
Zoonotic diseases are the infections that are transmitted between animals and humans and are a major source of emerging infectious diseases. Nearly >60% of the pathogens that infect humans cause zoonotic diseases in humans. “One Health” refers to such collaboration between local, national and global experts from public health, health care, forestry, veterinary, environmental and other related disciplines to bring about optimal health for humans, animals and environment. The concept of one health is still in embryonic stage in India and continuously gaining importance. The Government of India has taken some initiatives to tackle burgeoning problems such as antimicrobial resistance, zoonotic diseases and food safety using the one health approach. There are several challenges at the level of implementation which includes absence of a legal framework to implement one health, poor coordination among different governmental and private agencies, lack of proper surveillance of animal diseases, poor data-sharing mechanism across sectors and limited budget. Implementing systematic zoonotic surveillance, regulated antibiotic use among humans and animals, development of a zoonotic registry in the country, constitution of a wide network of academic, research, pharmaceutical and various implementation stakeholders from different sectors is the need of the hour to effectively use one health in order to combat increasing zoonotic diseases.
Keywords: One health, one world, surveillance, zoonosis
INTRODUCTION
Zoonotic diseases are the infections that are transmitted between animals and humans and are a major source of emerging infectious diseases. Nearly >60% of the pathogens that infect humans cause zoonotic diseases in humans. The highest zoonotic disease burden, with widespread illness and death, is prevalent in Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tanzania, and India (Jones et al., 2008). According to a study carried out by the International Livestock Research India, 13 zoonoses are the cause of 2.4 billion cases of human diseases and 2.2 million deaths per year (Jones et al., 2008). One health is a collaborative, multisectoral, coordinated and transdisciplinary approach – working at the local, regional, national and global levels with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes by recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants and their shared environment. With the increase in population, industrialization and geopolitical problems, global changes are accelerating which damage the biodiversity, ecosystems and migratory movements of both humankind and species in general. Rapid climate and environmental changes have led to the emergence and reemergence of infectious and non-infectious diseases. The COVID-19 pandemic, a human public health crisis resulting from a virus of potential animal origin, underlined the validity of the One Health concept in understanding and confronting global health risks. Often used to coordinate multi-sectoral prevention, preparedness and response efforts of zoonotic diseases. This approach is critical for the control of priority zoonotic diseases such as rabies, avian flu or viral haemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola. However, numerous cross-cutting issues, such as antimicrobial resistance, food safety, climate change and weak health care infrastructure, need to be addressed from a multisectoral and multidisciplinary perspective, which the One Health approach guarantees.
STATUS OF One Health in India
The one health approach is strategically gaining importance from all stakeholders such as public health professionals, veterinarians, health-care providers, policymakers and researchers. While animal-to-human transmission is a major threat in the country with several diseases such as avian flu, rabies, a major growing threat is from bovine tuberculosis which is on the increase. In addition, emerging zoonotic diseases are acquired through wild animals and the one health approach should look into the wild zoonotic diseases also. The successful implementation of the one health model involves integration and collaboration between multiple sectors of agriculture, animal health and human health.[4] However, the one approach is in an embryonic stage in India. Owing to the public health importance of zoonotic diseases in India, a National Standing Committee on Zoonoses was formed in 2007.[5] The Food Safety and Standard Act,[6] India, stipulates the limits for contaminants, naturally occurring toxic materials, antibiotic residues, pesticides, heavy metals, veterinary drug residues, etc., Government-initiated control programs for zoonotic and highly communicable diseases such as rabies, brucellosis, and food-and-mouth disease are available.[7] The Centre of Zoonosis, National Centre for Disease Control, India, has published a manual for handling zoonotic diseases.[8] Trade policies exist that affect Indian agricultural practices to maintain stringent quality measures according to the international standards. There is “Make in India” initiative which supports the development of medical equipment, drug, vaccines, and technology innovations[9] that can be used to address zoonotic diseases. There are pilot initiatives on the development of protocol for the Database of Zoonotic Disease Research in India.[9] A process of consultation has been initiated regarding an appropriate organizational structure for an one health hub in India to support intersectoral activities involving both the human and animal health sectors, working with government engagement on one health initiatives.[10]
CHALLANGES FOR ADAPTATION OF ONE HEALTH APPORACH IN INDIA
The various challenges related to adopting one health approach in the country for zoonosis. A large number of people are in contact with pet and farming animals, making the country a hotspot for emerging zoonotic diseases. While there is an increased focus on the prevention and prediction of diseases in human health other than diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation. The animal health sector lacks proper surveillance and reporting of animal diseases and laboratory diagnosis. The other major challenge is setting up surveillance programs and there is lack of support from partners. Milder zoonotic diseases that pose low and medium risk which when not addressed can convert into major problem are not monitored. There is a lack of awareness. Wild zoonosis is a domain which lacks proper attention. The main challenge is that the collaboration and coordination among the stakeholders is not sufficient to adopt a standard one heath protocol.
CONCLUSION
The most effective way may be to maintain the natural barriers between animals that are reservoirs and human society, applying the conceptualization of the One Health doctrine in these actions. Implementing systematic zoonotic surveillance, regulated antibiotic use among humans and animals, development of a zoonotic registry in the country, constitution of a wide network of academic, research, pharmaceutical and various implementation stakeholders from different sectors is the need of the hour to effectively use One health in order to combat increasing zoonotic diseases. Prevention through increased vaccination coverage should be targeted. Based on the learning from the use of OH approach to combat zoonotic diseases globally, best practices need to be developed and adopted.
References
- One Health Basics Fact Sheet. Available from: https://wwwcdcgov/onehealth/basics/indexhtml.
- Jones KE, Patel NG, Levy MA, Storeygard A, Balk D, Gittleman JL, (2008). Global trends in emerging infectious diseases. Nature. 2008;451:990–3.
- One Health Network Asia. Available from: http://wwwonehealthnetworkasia/node/69.
- The FAO-OIE_WHO Collaboration Sharing Responsibilities and Coordinating Global Activities to Address Health Risk at the Animal – Human-Ecosystems Interfaces. 2010. Available from: https://www.who.int/influenza/resources/documents/tripartite_concept_note_ hanoi_042011_en.pdf.
- Planning Commission Working Group 3. Report of the Working Group on Disease Burden for the 12th Five-Year Plan: The Planning Commission, New Delhi: Planning Commission Working Group 3. 2010. Available from: http://planningcommission.nic.in/aboutus/committee/wrkgrp12/health/WG_3_1communicable.pdf.
- Food and Safety Act. 2006. Available from: https://fssaigovin/cms/food-safety-and-standards-act-2006php.
- Technical Guidelines to States for Implementation of Various Components of Centrally Sponsored Scheme “Livestock Health and Disease Control”. Available from: http://dahdnicin/sites/default/filess/technical_guidelines_0pdf.
- Zoonotic Diseases of Public Health Importance.. Available from: https://ncdcgovin/WriteReadData/l892s/File618pdf.
- Make in India. [Last accessed on 2019 Sep 06]. Available from: http//wwwmakeinindiacom.
- Chatterjee P, Bhaumik S, Chauhan AS, Kakkar M. (2017). Protocol for developing a database of zoonotic disease research in India (DoZooRI) BMJ Open. 2017;7:e017825.
