One Health

“At a Glance”

    • According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), One Health is an approach that recognizes that the health of people is closely connected to the health of animals and the shared environment. 
    • One health is the collaborative effort by multisectoral disciplines working all together in order to recognize the health of people who are in close contact with the health of animals and shared environment. 
    • The concept of one health is not new, it has gained a lot of attention in the recent years and this is because several factors have changed the association between people, plants, animals and surrounding environment. 
    • Since human population is growing at exponential rate and a result more people live in close contact with wild and domesticated animals including both livestock and pets. Humans coming in contact with animals and their environments becomes the basis for disease spread between animals and humans. 
    • Due to increased business and trade activities across the globe diseases can spread quickly across the borders and around the world.
    • Mostly public health interventions require the cooperation of human, animal, and environmental health partners. 
    • No one person, single organization, or one sector can address these issues at the animal-human-environment interface alone.  

    What is Zoonosis?

    • World Health Organization (WHO), define zoonosis (or zoonotic disease) as any disease or infection that is naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans.
    • According to the CDC, “about 75% of recently emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) affecting humans are diseases of animal origin. 
    • Zoonoses can be caused by a range of disease pathogens such as viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoans, parasites or may involve other unconventional agents. 
    • As zoonosis serves as a major public health concern, majority of zoonotic diseases hinders the efficient production of food of animal origin and create obstacles in international trade related to animal products.

    Zoonotic Diseases

    • Zoonotic diseases (also known as zoonoses) are caused by germs that spread between animals and people.
    • Animals provide many benefits to humans by providing food, fiber, livelihoods, travel, sport, and companionship across the globe and for the fulfillment of these purposes we might come into contact with animals and sometimes these animals can carry harmful germs that can spread from animals to people and cause illness- known as zoonotic diseases or zoonoses.   
    • Zoonotic diseases range from minor short-term illness to a major life-changing illness. Zoonotic diseases are very common around the world. 
    • Scientists estimate that 6 out of every 10 known infectious diseases in people can be spread from animals, and 3 out of every 4 new or emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) in people come from animals.

     Types of Major Livestock Zoonotic Diseases 

    Livestock zoonotic diseases can be caused by a range of pathogens including bacteria, fungi, virus, and nematode.

    • Bacterial Zoonotic Diseases: These include;
    • Mastitis
    • Brucellosis
    • Anthrax
    • Bovine tuberculosis
    • Fungal Zoonotic Diseases: These include;
    • Dermatophytosis (commonly known as ‘ring worm’)
    • Viral Zoonotic Diseases: These include;
    • Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever 
    • Vasicular stomatitis
    • Nematode Zoonotic Diseases: This include;
    • Trichinosis