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The One Health Initiative
Important new initiative will help integrate human medicine, public health and veterinary medicine.
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In this issue of Infectious Disease News is a report describing an initiative launched by the former president of the American Veterinary Medical Association to bring about a much closer relationship between human and veterinary medicine [see related article]. The CDC, the American Medical Association, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, and other national organizations, quickly signed on to this effort. It is now organized and under way.
We were “tipped off” to this initiative by two members of our editorial advisory board, Donald Kaye, MD, and James Hughes, MD, and I am grateful for their suggestions. The need for closer integration of human medicine, public health and veterinary medicine has been increasingly apparent in recent decades, especially when we learn more and more about zoonotic diseases and their effect on human medicine. An excellent contribution to improving this understanding can be found in the Zoonotic Infections column on page 8, prepared by our veterinary columnist, Arnon Shimshony, DVM.
The specific goals of the One Health Initiative are outlined as follows by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene:
- Integration of educational systems among human medical schools and veterinary schools and schools of public health.
- Enhanced cross-disciplinary communication within professional journals, conferences and health networks.
- Increased research on cross-species disease transmission.
- Closer integration of human, veterinary and wildlife disease surveillance and control.
- Comparative research on diseases affecting both animals and humans, eg, diabetes, cancer, autoimmune diseases and obesity.
- Academic, industry and government partnerships for the development of new diagnostic methods, medicines and vaccines for the prevention and control of cross-species diseases.
- Combined efforts to educate political leaders and the public.
This is without a doubt an extremely ambitious agenda, and it will not be completed within a year, five years or even a decade. Rather, it must be an ongoing effort that, in essence, represents an entirely new way of looking at disease problems and health issues.
Interdependence
The interdependence of veterinary medicine, human medicine and public health can be further illustrated in a variety of ways. An article by Gregory Bossart, VMD, PhD, in Microbe (formerly ASM News) published on Nov. 11, 2007 calls attention to emerging diseases in marine mammals and strongly suggests marine mammals act as sentinels for the health of our oceans. Since a large part of our food derives from the oceans, the direct link to human health is obvious.
The current discussions in the public media about the U.S. Navy’s use of sonar equipment for various tracking purposes and its possible effect on marine mammals represents yet another dimension of this story and raises further the whole effect of modern warfare on the environment. Even omitting nuclear radiation, the effects of modern weaponry on veterinary and human health are only beginning to unfold.
Recently imported vectors have already altered the epidemiology of many vector-borne diseases. An article on page 23 in this issue of Infectious Disease News describes the increasing risk for dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic shock syndrome in the United States, a direct consequence of the spread of the mosquito vector, Aedes albopictus, into the temperate climate of North America.
Then there is the issue of global warming. Again, the effect of this “inconvenient truth” upon the collective health of all of us, animal and human, is only beginning to unfold. Loss of habitat as a result of warming, melting of ice sheets and the like will affect both veterinary and human food chains. The encroachment of expanding populations into previously pristine habitats has already altered many avian and animal populations in adverse ways. Does our planet have a limit to how many humans it can support? Are we getting close to that limit?
Numerous other examples could be cited, but the above serves to illustrate the need for the One Health Initiative. It is easy to stay abreast of developments; simply add the CDC’s journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases, to your monthly reading, at least by looking at the table of contents. It is available online at www.cdc.gov/eid.
Finally, hats off to Roger K. Mahr, DVM, the immediate past president of the American Veterinary Medical Association. It was his foresight and vision that got the ball rolling on the One Health Initiative.