One Health contributions towards more effective and equitable approaches to health in low- and middle-income countries.

Preventive ‘One Health’ are, for example, interventions in animal populations that generate human health benefits

Abstract

Emerging zoonoses with pandemic potential are a stated priority for the global health security agenda, but endemic zoonoses also have a major societal impact in low-resource settings. Although many endemic zoonoses can be treated, timely diagnosis and appropriate clinical management of human cases is often challenging. Preventive ‘One Health’ interventions, e.g. interventions in animal populations that generate human health benefits, may provide a useful approach to overcoming some of these challenges. Effective strategies, such as animal vaccination, already exist for the prevention, control and elimination of many endemic zoonoses, including rabies, and several livestock zoonoses (e.g. brucellosis, leptospirosis, Q fever) that are important causes of human febrile illness and livestock productivity losses in low- and middle-income countries. We make the case that, for these diseases, One Health interventions have the potential to be more effective and generate more equitable benefits for human health and livelihoods, particularly in rural areas, than approaches that rely exclusively on treatment of human cases.

This work arises from the Zoonoses and Emerging Livestock Systems (ZELS) programme.

Citation

Cleaveland S, Sharp J, Abela-Ridder B, Allan K, Buza J, Crump J, Davis A, Del Rio Vilas V, de Glanville W, Kazwala R, Kibona T, Lankester F, Lugelo A, Mmbaga B, Rubach M, Swai E, Waldman L, Haydon D, Hampson K, Halliday J (2017). One Health contributions towards more effective and equitable approaches to health in low- and middle-income countries. Philosophical Transactions Royal Soc London B Biol Sci. 372(1725). pii: 20160168

One Health contributions towards more effective and equitable approaches to health in low- and middle-income countries

Published 5 June 2017