The One Health Framework

Abstract

Six of every 10 infectious diseases in people are zoonotic. The One Health approach is vital to global efforts to prevent and respond to these diseases.

SARS-CoV-2 is the virus responsible for COVID-19 and the third zoonotic coronavirus, after SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV. As the world continues to grapple with COVID-19, we see firsthand the importance of understanding the human–animal interface. The One Health framework from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is a transdisciplinary global effort that acknowledges the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and our shared environment (CDC, 2018). Professionals from government and private sectors at all levels collaborate to promote and protect health across the life span and improve health outcomes at the local, regional, national, and global levels. The One Health concept is increasingly important as the earth’s ever-enlarging populace continually expands into new geographic areas and brings more people in close contact with wild and domestic animals.

Animals, whether livestock or pets, play a vital role in human lives, yet close contact with animals and their environments increases the risk of zoonotic disease transmission. Globally, zoonotic diseases, which spread between animals and people, cause an estimated 2.5 billion cases of sickness and 2.7 million deaths each year (CDC, 2020). Disruptions in environmental conditions and habitats from climate change, deforestation, armed conflict and warfare, and the intensive farming practices necessary to feed the world’s population increase the risk of zoonotic diseases. These environmental changes have led to the spread of existing or known (endemic) and new or emerging zoonotic diseases (CDC, 2018). The world’s global economy relies on international travel and trade. However, it is this increased transport of people, animals, and animal products that allows zoonotic diseases to spread quickly across borders and around the globe.

Six out of every 10 infectious diseases in people are zoonotic, which makes it crucial that the nation strengthen its capabilities to prevent and respond to these diseases; the One Health approach is vital to accomplish this goal (CDC, 2019). The CDC’s One Health Office partnered with the Department of Interior and U.S. Department of Agriculture along with other government agencies to bring together epidemiologists, laboratorians, physicians, and veterinarians to prioritize zoonotic-related illnesses and lay the groundwork for strategic development of ways to protect the health of people, animals, and our environment. The eight zoonotic diseases identified as being of most concern in the United States are zoonotic influenza, salmonellosis, West Nile virus (WNV), plague, emerging coronaviruses (e.g., severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome), rabies, brucellosis, and Lyme disease (CDC, 2019). Although zoonotic diseases cause tens of thousands of illnesses in the United States each year, animals often serve as early warning signs of potential illness in people. For example, birds often die of WNV before people get sick with WNV fever (CDC, 2020). In 2017, there were 1,973 cases of WNV, 1,293 neuroinvasive cases with resultant long-term disability, and 115 deaths reported to the CDC, with as many as 70 unreported cases for every reported WNV case (CDC, n.d.).

The CDC’s One Health Office collaborates with 69 other countries, international and nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to achieve the Global Health Security Agenda (n.d.): a vision of a world safe and secure from global health threats posed by infectious diseases, including zoonosis. Occupational and environmental health nurses can help increase awareness about zoonoses and the CDC’s One Health Office efforts to control them. We must advocate for environmental health protections, especially related to zoonotic diseases.