The One Health Paradigm reflects the inter-relationships between environmental, animal, and human health. The One Health Approach for improving human health is equally applicable to terrestrial and aquatic environments. Of the 1,461 infectious diseases now recognized in humans, approximately 60% are due to multi-host pathogens characterized by their movement across species lines. Over half of all new or emerging infectious diseases since the 1940s have jumped from domestic and wild animals to humans, and it is fully expected that this trend will continue. Anthropozoonoses, diseases that effect both animals and humans, often result in animals serving as reservoirs for re-emerging or new diseases. Environmental degradation through pollution and contamination, or changes in the environment brought about by climate change, may result in favorable settings for expansion of existing infectious diseases, may increase the transmissibility of these diseases, or may lead to altered patterns of pathogen virulence as they rapidly adapt to new environmental cues. Animal and human migration patterns also shift in response to climate change, further leading to new routes of exposure. Therefore, to fully understand, forecast, and control emerging infectious diseases requires an interdisciplinary and holistic approach that combines the studies of pathogens and their virulence, animal health and zoonoses, and the role of climate change and other factors on environmental health. While the One Health approach is often used in context for the control of infectious disease, the paradigm is easily extended to include an understanding of the fate of contamination of the environment with a variety of chemicals, fertilizers, and antibiotics. These anthropogenic factors have both direct and indirect impacts on human health. In all cases, the One Health approach is aided by the incorporation of the concept of sentinel species, including the acquisition of pathogens infectious to humans as well as the impacts of chemical contaminants on development, reproduction, and overall health.
References:
King, L. (Ed). One Health: A New Professional Imperative. One Health Initiative Task Force, American Veterinary Medical Association (2008) pp. 1-76
King, D. A., C. Peckham, J. K. Waage, J. Brownlie, and M. E. J. Woolhouse. Infectious diseases: preparing for the future. Science (2006) vol. 313 (5792) pp. 1392-3
Torrey E. F., and Yolken R. H. Beasts of the Earth. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press (2005).
other
2009 ASM General Meeting symposium description: "One Health - A New Paradigm for Microbiology and Public Health" (May 19, 2009)
MicrobeWorld (video of ASM press conference for same symposium)
Someone (and I can't remember who and where) used this image to describe how changing migration patterns of animals and humans contribute to new infectious disease spread.
Comments welcomed.
