One Health: free online course from FutureLearn features CABI authors
One Health is about connectedness: "the collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals, plants and our environment”. On One Health Day, November 3rd 2016, CABI's editors held a One Health (#OneHealth) Blogathon to focus attention, contributing a total of 6 blogs to Handpicked… and Carefully Sorted, each…
The Global Action Plan for Agricultural Diversification and its contribution to Zero Hunger
Over 7 billion people currently depend on just four major crops to supply more than three-quarters of their food intake. By 2050, the global population is set to reach 9 billion. The world is already experiencing the implications of temperature increase and its impact on food supply. It is becoming increasingly accepted that, given warmer…
How soil health is integral to One Health
One of a series of blogs written by CABI editors for One Health (#OneHealth) Day on November 3rd 2016 "It is difficult to rate the importance of the different soil functions, since all are vital to our well-being to some extent. However, the function of supporting food and agriculture worldwide is fundamental for the preservation and advancement of…
‘One health’ and the economics of the human animal bond.
One of a series of blogs written by CABI editors for One Health Day November 3rd 2016 The term ‘One health’ was created to emphasise the fact that health of humans and animals were inter-linked and that the control of zoonotic diseases is best achieved by breaking down the barriers between human and veterinary medicine, developing…
Urban trees – an air pollution solution?
Image: Unsplash, Pixabay.com One of a series of blogs written by CABI editors for One Health Day – November 3rd 2016 November 3rd 2016 will be host to the first ever One Health Day, an international campaign that aims to bring attention to how planetary health challenges are addressed. It may not be obvious, but public…
‘One Welfare’ complements ‘One Health’
Image: Leroy Skalstad, Pixabay.com One of a series of blogs written by CABI editors for One Health Day on November 3rd 2016 While ‘One Health’ is a well-established concept, a new term ‘One Welfare’ is also emerging, extending the One Health theme beyond physical health and recognising that animal welfare and human wellbeing are intrinsically…
Author of the Month: Climate Change Impacts on Urban Pests, Partho Dhang
A survey revealed that “climate change” remains a top recognisable and used phrase in the first two decades of this century. Today, climate change generates enormous interest socially and has become an agenda in major meetings governing varied subjects such as national security, trade, economics, agriculture, public health and the environment. Evidence of climate…
One Health working will improve health and well-being of us all: plant, animal, human and ecosystem!
For One Health Day November 3, 2016, CABI editor Wendie Norris blogs about "One Health beyond early detection and control of zoonoses" an RSTMH 2016 talk by CABI author Esther Schellling (Swiss Tropical Public Health). Describing research projects on nomadic pastoralists in Chad and Rift Valley Fever (RVF) control in Kenya, Esther drew attention to the need for interdisciplinary studies to include an evaluation of One Health working, involvement of social scientists, engagement of key stakeholders. Tellingly she provided a cost-benefit analysis to society of controlling zoonoses when the disease is in its animal host before it infects human beings.
Excessive use of antimicrobials in intensive livestock farming as One Health issue
Most antibiotics in livestock farming are used in aquaculture, but significant amounts are also used in terrestrial livestock species, particularly in poultry and pigs. Approximately 70% of antibiotics are used for non-therapeutic purposes, i.e. many antibiotics are used in sub-therapeutic doses and over prolonged periods, which leads to the development of genes that confer antimicrobial resistance to animal pathogens. These genes can subsequently be transferred to human pathogens and it is estimated that 75% of recently emerging diseases in humans are of animal origin. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) problems are further exacerbated by the fact that antibiotic resistance genes were found in bacteria long before antibiotics were ever used on super-pathogens in farm animals. AMR is a worldwide problem, which clearly affects both animal and human health, and hence it is truly One Health issue.
Mobile Technology For Development – A Local Call?
Mobile technology has great promise for assisting agricultural development, but only if the information provided is tailored to local needs. This was a key conclusion from a workshop held at the Centre for Development Informatics at the University of Manchester. CABI and the University of Manchester were the joint organisers of the workshop "Mobile Technology…