ONE HEALTH - Animal and human influenzas

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Rev Sci Tech. 2014 Aug;33(2):539-53.
Animal and human influenzas.

Peiris M, Yen HL.
Abstract

Influenza type A viruses affect humans and other animals and cause significant morbidity, mortality and economic impact. Influenza A viruses are well adapted to cross species barriers and evade host immunity. Viruses that cause no clinical signs in wild aquatic birds may adapt in domestic poultry to become highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses which decimate poultry flocks. Viruses that cause asymptomatic infection in poultry (e.g. the recently emerged A/H7N9 virus) may cause severe zoonotic disease and pose a major pandemic threat. Pandemic influenza arises at unpredictable intervals from animal viruses and, in its global spread, outpaces current technologies for making vaccines against such novel viruses. Confronting the threat of influenza in humans and other animals is an excellent example of a task that requires a One Health approach. Changes in travel, trade in livestock and pets, changes in animal husbandry practices, wet markets and complex marketing chains all contribute to an increased risk of the emergence of novel influenza viruses with the ability to cross species barriers, leading to epizootics or pandemics. Coordinated surveillance at the animal- human interface for pandemic preparedness, risk assessment, risk reduction and prevention at source requires coordinated action among practitioners in human and animal health and the environmental sciences. Implementation of One Health in the field can be challenging because of divergent short-term objectives. Successful implementation requires effort, mutual trust, respect and understanding to ensure that long-term goals are achieved without adverse impacts on agricultural production and food security.


PMID: 25707182 [PubMed - in process]

 

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Rev Sci Tech. 2014 Aug;33(2):433-41.
[h=1]Perspectives on One Health: a survey of national Delegates to the World Organisation for Animal Health, 2012.[/h] Glynn MK, Brink N.
[h=3]Abstract[/h] In 2012, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) surveyed all 178 national Delegates to better understand the perceptions and priorities of Veterinary Services with respect to One Health efforts and to guide future work in that area. For the purposes of this survey, the concept or practice of One Health was defined as 'the intersectoral collaborative approach to preventing, detecting, and controlling diseases among animals and humans, including the collaboration among the institutions and systems that support their prevention, detection and control'. A total of 120 OlE Delegates, representing countries from all five OIE regions, responded to the survey. Delegates identified zoonoses, rabies and influenza as high-priority disease areas and disease reporting and food safety as high-priority programme areas for One Health approaches. Veterinary Services participated in joint programmes, involving these priority disease and programme areas, with national intersectoral partners. Delegates reported barriers to implementing One Health approaches, including a lack of resources, the complexity of collaboration, inadequate capacity within their Veterinary Services, and a lack of adequate legislation, policy, guidance and political will for One Health activities. Delegates supported OIE efforts to enhance One Health activities, and requested that the OIE and partners provide technical information and advice and conduct training and capacity-building seminars for One Health. Veterinary Services cannot effectively apply One Health approaches at the national level without effective partnerships across sectors. The OlE can serve as a model for countries by continuing its commitment to these intersectoral partnerships at the international level.


PMID: 25707174 [PubMed - in process]

 

[tetano]

Rev Sci Tech. 2014 Aug;33(2):421-32.
[h=1]Current initiatives in One Health: consolidating the One Health Global Network.[/h] Vandersmissen A, Welburn SC.
[h=3]Abstract[/h] The Global Response to Avian Influenza has led to a longer-term One Health movement, which addresses risks, including zoonoses, at the human-animal- environment interface, and requires the development of innovative partnerships at the political, institutional and technical levels. One Health is a sustainable and rational option when the cumulative effects of health hazards on food and economic security are considered, but demands long-term financial investment. Projections of growth in the demand for livestock production and consumption in Asia and Africa also call for effective One Health responses. However, an effective response also requires validated evidence of the socio-economic value that the One Health approach can provide. Implementing the One Health approach depends on forging strong links between human and animal health services, the environment and public policy. The authors present a list of some of the national and transnational partnerships established since 2006. Political support, good governance and effective policies and networks are crucial building blocks for One Health sustainability. The Global Response to Avian Influenza was initially established under the joint leadership of the European Union, the United States and the United Nations System Influenza Coordination Office. Since then it has supported numerous initiatives, including the World Health Organization (WHO)/Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)/World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) Global Early Warning System (GLEWS). Indeed, the Global Response to Avian Influenza paved the way for an unprecedented WHO/FAO/OIE tripartite partnership, which promoted the integration of foodborne, neglected zoonotic and tropical diseases within the One Health movement and led to the tripartite High-Level Technical Meeting of 2011 in Mexico. The One Health Global Network, which began as a proposition at an Expert Consultation in Winnipeg, Canada, in 2009, is now a reality. While its Global Guidance Group takes shape, the choice of soft-governance--an approach which relies more on information and advisory guidelines than on hierarchy and legislation, and which aims to steer local organisations rather than to control them--remains challenging. Nonetheless, the emergence of One Health as a professional and academic discipline, together with the growing references to a One Health culture, also offers new opportunities.


PMID: 25707173 [PubMed - in process]