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.
Limitations of Voluntary Plan for Phasing Out Non-Medical Antibiotic Use in Farm Animals in USA
By M Djuric, DVM The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently issued a guidance document on the use of antibiotics in farm animals. The document notes that excessive use leads to the spread of antibiotic-resistant diseases in both animals and humans. In the document, the FDA proposes that pharmaceutical companies voluntarily change some…
Neglected tropical diseases: the future is multidisciplinary and ‘one health’
A new society has been born – the International Society for Neglected Tropical Diseases. The society’s reason for existence is to provide a space where people from different disciplines can meet and develop new ways to control neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). I went to their inaugural conference. The talks were many and varied as was…
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