14.4 One Health approach to emerging viral threats

Emerging viral threats don't play by the rules. They jump between animals, humans, and environments, causing chaos. That's where the One Health approach comes in, tackling these threats from all angles.

One Health brings together experts from different fields to fight viral outbreaks. By looking at the big picture - how viruses spread between species and ecosystems - we can catch threats early and stop them in their tracks.

One Health Concept

Interconnected Health Approach

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Top images from around the web for Interconnected Health Approach

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  Frontiers | Emerging Zoonotic Diseases: Should We Rethink the Animal–Human Interface? View original

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• One Health adopts a collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach recognizing the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health
• Works at local, regional, national, and global levels to achieve optimal health outcomes for all species and ecosystems
• Addresses increasing threat of emerging viral diseases by considering factors such as habitat destruction, climate change, and human-animal interactions
• Promotes holistic understanding of disease ecology including reservoir hosts (bats), vectors (mosquitoes), and environmental factors contributing to viral emergence and spread

Relevance to Emerging Viral Diseases

• Particularly relevant due to frequent zoonotic origin of emerging pathogens (SARS-CoV-2) and their complex transmission dynamics
• Focuses on early detection, rapid response, and prevention of viral outbreaks through integrated surveillance systems and coordinated interventions
• Addresses viral threats by examining spillover events from animals to humans (Ebola virus)
• Considers how ecosystem changes affect viral emergence and transmission patterns (deforestation leading to increased human-wildlife contact)

Integrating Health Disciplines

Zoonotic Disease Management

• Recognizes inextricable link between human health and health of animals and environment in context of emerging viral threats
• Emphasizes importance of studying zoonotic spillover events and ecological factors facilitating viral transmission between species
• Integrates surveillance systems for both human and animal populations to detect potential viral threats early and monitor their spread
• Promotes development of vaccines and therapeutics considering both human and animal health, as well as potential environmental impacts

Environmental Health Incorporation

• Examines how ecosystem changes affect viral emergence and transmission patterns
  • Deforestation increasing human-wildlife contact
  • Urbanization altering vector habitats
• Encourages implementation of biosecurity measures in agriculture and wildlife management to reduce risk of viral transmission between animals and humans
  • Improved farm hygiene practices
  • Wildlife trade regulations
• Involves collaborative research on viral evolution, host adaptation, and environmental persistence to inform comprehensive risk assessment and management
  • Studying bat coronaviruses in their natural habitats
  • Monitoring avian influenza in migratory bird populations

Interdisciplinary Collaboration

Expertise Integration

• Brings together expertise from various fields to address complex viral threats comprehensively
  • Virology, epidemiology, veterinary medicine, ecology, public health
• Enables development of more effective surveillance systems detecting viral pathogens in multiple species and environments simultaneously
  • Integrated human-animal disease surveillance networks
• Identifies and analyzes complex interactions between human activities, animal populations, and ecosystems contributing to viral emergence
  • Studying impact of agricultural practices on zoonotic disease transmission

Enhanced Research and Communication

• Facilitates sharing of resources, technologies, and data across disciplines, leading to more rapid and efficient responses to emerging viral threats
  • Collaborative genomic sequencing efforts for new viral strains
• Promotes development of integrated intervention strategies addressing multiple aspects of disease transmission and control
  • Combined vector control and vaccination programs
• Enhances understanding of viral evolution and adaptation, informing development of more effective vaccines and antiviral therapies
  • Studying antigenic drift in influenza viruses
• Equips teams to communicate complex scientific information to policymakers and public, improving overall preparedness and response to viral outbreaks
  • Developing clear risk communication strategies for emerging threats

One Health Benefits vs Challenges

Potential Benefits

• Improves early warning systems for emerging viral threats and more comprehensive strategies for disease prevention and control
  • Global influenza surveillance network
• Leads to more efficient use of resources by avoiding duplication of efforts across different sectors and promoting synergistic interventions
  • Integrated vector control programs for multiple diseases
• Enhances global health security by strengthening capacity for coordinated responses to viral outbreaks across national borders
  • International outbreak response teams

Implementation Challenges

• Overcoming institutional and disciplinary silos hindering collaboration between human, animal, and environmental health sectors
  • Differing priorities between public health and agricultural departments
• Resource limitations, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, impeding establishment of integrated surveillance systems and coordinated response mechanisms
  • Lack of laboratory capacity for zoonotic disease testing
• Differences in regulatory frameworks and policies across sectors and countries complicating implementation of One Health strategies on global scale
  • Varying animal health regulations between nations
• Balancing competing priorities and interests among stakeholders from different disciplines and sectors, challenging in practice
  • Reconciling economic interests with public health measures