ROLE OF VETERINARIANS AND ONE HEALTH IN THE FIGHT AGAINST ZOONOSES
“Veterinarians are the first line of defense in the zoonosis battle” Yes! It is true that veterinarians play a vital role in control of zoonosis as they can predict the nature of a zoonotic disease easily and help in preventing its spread. Foundation of one health:
- Communication
- Co-ordination
- Collaboration
The complexity and increasing burden of zoonotic diseases create challenges for the health systems of developing nations. Public health systems must therefore be prepared to face existing and future disease threats at the human-animal interface. The key for this is: coordinated action between the human and the animal health systems. Although some studies deal with the question of how these two systems interact during unforeseen circumstances such as outbreaks, a dearth of literature exists on howthese systems interact on early detection, prevention and control of zoonotic.
The emergence and spread of zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2, indicates that veterinarians inhabit a central and primary position in the prevention of new and dangerous zoonoses that may impact human health. The number of potential human lives lost as well as the high morbidity and imminent risks of epidemics/pandemics converging to result in the emergence of new diseases makes it imperative and necessary to intensify studies, in which veterinarians have the responsibility to identify and reveal the risks, critical points and other epidemiological aspects involved in the transmission of an infectious agent from the animal, environment, and human interfaces.
The knowledge obtained through monitoring eventual ecological/epidemiological changes and the experience of previous studies in all knowledge areas will be effective tools to predict, prevent, and anticipate outbreaks by impacting zoonotic diseases. This summarizes the veterinarian’s role in public health, framed in the One Health concept.
Surveillance measures represent the main strategy, considering these preventive needs. Active surveillance is important in the investigation of the potential pathogens of animals and the potentials of possible emergence in humans. Veterinary researchers are actively involved in advancing knowledge of the epidemiology and environmental drivers of zoonotic diseases, identification of risk factors and development of diagnostic tests, vaccines and treatments, all of which contribute to improved control and management of zoonoses.
Veterinarians are especially important in wildlife surveillance, which becomes a fundamental parameter in the control of emerging zoonoses because ecological changes, molecular variations of infectious agents, and wild animal-man interactions represent the main factors for the emergence of new pathogens. Therefore, the collaboration between veterinary communities linked to the monitoring of wildlife and human medical communities is crucial in the development of preventive strategies and must follow a double direction in the provision of early and specific information, which is not evident in most developing countries.
“Veterinarians have the knowledge to understand how a zoonotic disease propagates and finally they make them to disappear”
Most private veterinary practitioners contribute to public health during routine practice.Specific examples of public health activities include performing routine health examinations, maintaining immunization regimens, implementing parasite control programs, advising on the risks of animal contact for immunocompromised individuals, facilitating the use of guide and service dogs for people with disabilities, and promoting the benefits of the human-animal bond for the disabled and elderly, as well as war veterans and others suffering from post- traumatic stress disorder. In addition to these direct services, veterinary practitioners report disease events and trends to state public health and regulatory agencies, collaborate with human medical counterparts on zoonotic diseases, and advise local health boards and commissions.
These relationships would not exist if not for the inextricable link between animal and human health.In addition to managing direct zoonotic diseases in animals, veterinarians also diagnose, investigate, and control indirect zoonoses and non-zoonotic communicable
diseases that affect human health. Examples include West Nile disease and coccidioidomycosis among pet animals, and bovine leukosis, foot and mouth disease, fowlpox, and many other diseases that affect the food supply, the national economy, and the livelihood of the nation’s farmers. Establishing a causal link between human and animal disease relies on such research efforts, often through some combination of molecular studies, mathematical theory, and experimental epidemiology, using either field or laboratory research.
Therefore, Veterinarians with their diverse training, including practical experience in animal health and knowledge of epidemiology and environmental drivers of disease, are ideally placed to respond to increased zoonotic risk in cooperation with other One Health professionals in the public health, environmental and ecological fields.
It is very hard to find the root cause of a zoonotic disease without the help of the veterinarians as they help to find the needle in the haystack of collected data
“Veterinarians provide the map to solve the puzzle of a mystery zoonotic maze”
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.576262/full
JOAN CYNTHIA A
BVT17025
4th YEAR
GUIDED BY
D R. V. RAMAKRISHNAN, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
VETERINARY COLLEGE AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE – TIRUNELVELI
TANUVAS – CHENNAI
