National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases / Centre de collaboration nationale des maladies infectieuses

Knowledge that's contagious!

Tel: 204.943.0051
E-Mail: nccid@icid.com

Personal Insights from the 1st International One Health Congress Melbourne, Australia February 14-16, 2011

By Craig Stephen, DVM, PhD, Centre for Coastal Health, Nanaimo, BC;
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB

The sharing of pathogens and their genes between animal and people is being studied to stem the rise of antimicrobial resistance. However, international agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the governments of developed nations have not invested much attention or resources in recent years to human-animal interactions: That is, until the large scale economic impacts of emerging infectious diseases (EID) like avian influenza, SARS and mad cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy). The 1st International One Health Congress symbolizes the renewed interest in human-animal-environmental health interactions at the policy, research and practices levels.

There is a growing movement in many spheres of public health for a systems-based approach to disease prevention and control.Multi-disciplinary infection control collaborations are now seen to extend beyond the boundaries of a team of health care professionals within hospitals.Teams including other professionals in allied fields as well as community members are needed to ensure primary prevention is achieved well before people are exposed to  environmental hazards such as zoonoses or food contaminants. Central to the systems approach is the need to develop relationships, trust, knowledge and agreements for collaboration and sharing between relevant stakeholders before the next EID or pandemic hits your community.

Download PDF