One World One Health: Preventing Zoonoses

One World One Health: Preventing Zoonoses

N Dalai and S Shekhar

Abstract

In order to achieve optimal health for people, animals, and the environment, local, national, and international professionals from the fields of public health, healthcare, forestry, veterinary, environmental, and other related disciplines collaborate under the umbrella term “One Health (OH).” Several advantages as well as an increase in zoonosis and multifactorial chronic diseases are brought about by the interdependence of the animal, human, and environmental worlds. Due to the development of antibiotic resistances and environmental contamination, treating these diseases requires competence across multiple fields. Every year, zoonotic illnesses infect millions of people and animals worldwide. To effectively use One health to combat the rising incidence of zoonotic diseases, it is urgent to implement systematic zoonotic surveillance, implement regulated antibiotic use among humans and animals, develop a national zoonotic registry, and establish a large network of academic, research, pharmaceutical, and various implementation stakeholders from different sectors.

Keywords: One health, zoonoses, animal health, veterinarians, environment

* Author for correspondence

  Email: niru.vets@gmail.com

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Introduction

The idea of One Health is not new; it has existed for at least 200 years under various names, including One Medicine, One World, One Health, and finally One Health. Although numerous definitions have been put out, there isn’t a singular One Health that is universally accepted. One Health is defined as a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach—working at the local, regional, national, and global levels—with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes while recognising the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment. The new idea, “One World, One Health,” is based on the comprehension that people, animals, and the environment are inextricably linked. It suggests that the world has suddenly realised the interrelation between ecology, animal diseases, and public health while attempting to restore and maintain harmony and synergy. The term “One Health” was first used in 2003–2004 in relation to the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in early 2003 and the subsequent spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1. It was also associated with a set of strategic objectives known as the “Manhattan Principles,” which were developed at a meeting of the Wildlife Conservation Society in 2004 and recognised the connection between human and animal health as well as the threats that diseases pose to the food supply.

Despite the fact that the phrase “One Health” is relatively new, the idea has long been accepted both domestically and internationally. Scientists have been observing the similarities between human and animal illness processes since the 1800s, but until the 20th century, human and animal medicine was treated independently. One Health is a multi-sectoral strategy that considers the interconnectedness and connectivity of these three factors as well as the health of people, animals, and the environment.

The majority of novel, emerging zoonotic infectious diseases originate in animals and the main causes of these diseases’ genesis are human activities such as changing ecosystems and land use, intensifying agriculture, urbanisation, and international trade. Expanding into new regions, human populations are increasing. More people now interact often with both domestic and wild animals, including pets and cattle. Whether it’s for companionship, food, fibre, income, recreation, sport, or education, animals are essential to our way of life. The likelihood of diseases spreading from animals to people increases with close interaction with animals and their environments. Climate and land usage on earth have changed as a result of deforestation and intensive farming methods. Changes in ecosystems and environmental circumstances might create new opportunities for illnesses to spread to animals. These changes have caused endemic and newly emerging zoonotic diseases—diseases that can transfer from animals to humans—to spread more widely. Every year, zoonotic illnesses infect millions of people and animals worldwide. In order to conduct a risk assessment, create plans for response and control, and understand the ecology of each developing zoonotic disease, a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach that crosses boundaries of animal, human, and environmental health is required.

Common one health issues

• One Health issues include emerging, re-emerging, and endemic zoonotic diseases, neglected tropical diseases, vector-borne diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food safety and food security, environmental contamination, climate change and other health threats shared by people, animals, and the environment. Antibimicrobial-resistant germs can quickly spread through communities, the food supply, healthcare facilities, and the environment (soil, water), making it harder to treat certain infections in animals and people. Vector-borne diseases are on the rise with warmer temperatures and expanded mosquito and tick habitats.

Concept of one health

The One Health concept clearly focuses on consequences, responses, and actions at the animal-human-ecosystems interfaces, particularly emerging and endemic zoonoses, the latter of which are responsible for a much greater burden of disease in the developing world and have a significant social impact in resource-poor settings; and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), as resistance can develop in humans, animals, or the environment and may spread from one to the other and from one country to another and food safety.

Zoonotic Diseases

People gain various advantages from animals. However, animals occasionally contain dangerous pathogens that can infect humans and cause sickness; these conditions are referred to as zoonotic illnesses or zoonoses. There are numerous ways that zoonotic illnesses might spread. Direct contact, indirect contact, vector-borne, and food-borne transmission are the most typical recognised methods of their distribution. Pathogenic microorganisms such bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses can cause a wide range of ailments in humans and animals, from minor illness to severe illness and even death. Depending on the zoonotic disease, animals can occasionally seem healthy even when they are harbouring pathogens that can make people sick. According to scientific estimates, 3 out of every 4 new or emerging infectious diseases in humans and more than 6 out of every 10 recognised infectious diseases in humans can be transmitted from animals. Since zoonotic agents can simultaneously target the health of both human and animal populations and have a significant socioeconomic impact, they may be considered for intentional release to cause harm and commotion.

Table 1: List of different zoonotic diseases, their main reservoirs, and their mode of transmission

Source: “List of zoonotic diseases – GOV.UK”. www.gov.uk. Retrieved 2017-04-05.

The environment and worldwide human security have been negatively impacted by intensive livestock raising. Livestock production produces more greenhouse gases than the entire global transportation industry, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations. Deforestation, excessive water use, soil pollution by faeces and ammonia from animal feed are all side effects of extensive livestock farming. The ecology is negatively impacted by deforestation in numerous ways. Loss of habitat, which has an influence on millions of species, is one of the major effects. As a result of being compelled to find new habitats ever-closer to populated areas, these species are more likely to come into touch with people and contract zoonoses. In recent decades, there has been a significant increase in the frequency of international travel, which has facilitated the rapid international spread of illnesses and their vectors. An infectious illness outbreak in one nation can quickly spread to affect the entire world, creating a serious public health emergency (such as COVID-19), in our increasingly linked and interdependent world.

Antibiotic resistance

Antibiotic resistance has been called the “quintessential One Health issue” due to the fact that it affects all three areas. Antibiotic resistance is a direct result of the selection pressure brought on by the justified and indiscriminate use of antibiotics for human and animal health as well as antibiotic exposure in the environment. Antibiotic resistance genes can get entrenched in bacteria when antibiotics are used in animal production systems at subtherapeutic levels for extended periods of time. These genes are then passed on to human pathogens or commensals through humans, tainted food, or the environment. Since many antibiotics used in people and animals have counterparts, this could contribute to the spread of antibiotic resistance across the two species. Additionally, mounting evidence suggests that antibiotic usage in livestock contributes to antibiotic resistance in human healthcare settings.

Environmental bacteria serve as a reservoir for resistance genes that can eventually be introduced into human and animal infections. Environmental bacteria are the most common bacteria in terms of quantity. The environment is subject to erratic weather patterns, particularly shifts in temperature, humidity, and precipitation that have an impact on bacterial ecosystems. As a result, the environment is a shaky component of the One Health antibiotic resistance triad.

Climate change and its detrimental impacts on the health of people, animals, and the ecosystem are what have given environmental issues the most attention. By causing changes in the lifecycles of pathogens, vectors, and reservoirs as well as new and emerging diseases of food-producing plants as well as domestic and wild animals, trophic cascades, interfering with the synchrony between interacting species in a given habitat, and modifying or destroying habitats, climate change endangers the ecological and environmental integrity of living systems.

Strategy of one health

As a powerful strategy to combat health problems at the interface of human-animal-environment, particularly zoonotic infections, one health is gaining popularity around the world. Human, animal, and environmental health partners must work together for public health interventions to be successful. Professionals in the fields of human health (doctors, nurses, public health practitioners, epidemiologists), animal health (veterinarians, paraprofessionals, agricultural workers), environment (ecologists, wildlife experts), and other expertise areas need to coordinate activities, collaborate on projects, and communicate with one another. In the One Health Initiative, veterinary, medical, public health, agricultural, and environmental health organisations have embraced the objective of enhancing lives through integrated health approaches. The ideas from environmental, veterinary, and agricultural science have been successfully incorporated with public health, and this movement has been successful in drawing more attention to socio-economic factors that affect both human and animal health.

Veterinarians are in a prime position to respond to increased zoonotic risk in collaboration with other One Health professionals in the public health, environmental, and ecological fields due to their diverse training, which includes practical experience in animal health as well as knowledge of epidemiology and environmental drivers of disease. Veterinarians can contribute to the prevention of zoonotic diseases by highlighting disease reservoirs, supporting an international strategy, and concentrating on the well-being of individual patients. They perform a crucial front-line role in the nationwide surveillance of zoonoses. They cooperate and collaborate with public health authorities to manage disease occurrence and put risk management plans in place for illnesses that have a significant impact on human health in animal populations. In order to better prevent and manage zoonoses, veterinary researchers are actively involved in expanding knowledge of the epidemiology and environmental causes of zoonotic illnesses, identifying risk factors, and developing diagnostic tests, vaccinations, and therapies.

Veterinarians working with food-producing animals and serving in government roles make a significant contribution to the security of the food supply. Stages of production can be used to categorise roles in the production of food animals. Animal welfare assurance, zoonotic disease detection and prevention, pre-slaughter animal inspection, and antimicrobial residue testing are all antemortem tasks. Through herd health programmes, which include disease treatment and prevention, husbandry, handling, and environmental advice, reproductive efficiency, vaccination schedules, nutrition, and stress reduction, commodity group protocols, and biosecurity and biocontainment plans, veterinarians who work with food animals also generally contribute to public health. The prudent and appropriate use of antibiotics, disease surveillance, outbreak investigation and mitigation, vaccination against specific high-risk or high-prevalence pathogens, collaboration with other health professionals (One Health), food facility inspection, import-export examinations, public health (risk) communication, food supply after disasters, and resuscitation efforts are other important activities in addition to monitoring herd health.

Conclusion

The best health outcomes for people, animals, and plants in a shared environment can be achieved via a One Health strategy by encouraging collaboration across all sectors. The One Health approach can stop zoonotic disease from spreading between humans and animals, strengthen the security and safety of food, safeguard the safety of world health and save the environment and the wildlife.

By protecting one, we help protect all.

One world, one health: Prevent zoonoses!

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