Emerging Zoonoses: the “One Health Approach”

TLDR

Zoonotic diseases emerging from animal reservoirs, such as SARS and H5N1 avian influenza, pose a growing public health threat that has been underestimated—particularly in occupational settings—highlighting the need for targeted preventive interventions. The study promotes a One Health strategy that encourages close collaboration among veterinarians, occupational health physicians, and public health operators to integrate human, animal, and environmental health. Outbreaks demonstrate that animal breeding activities significantly threaten public health, and the One Health Approach was designed to address this risk through interdisciplinary collaboration.

Abstract

Zoonoses represent a public health risk recently pointed out by the spreading of previously unknown human infectious diseases emerging from animal reservoirs such as severe acute respiratory syndrome and avian influenza caused by H5N1-virus. These outbreaks have shown that animal breeding activities can pose a significant public health risk. Until now, the risk of zoonoses has probably been underestimated, particularly in occupational settings. The emergence or re-emergence of bacterial (Mycobacterium bovis and Brucella spp) or viral (hepatitis E virus) infections shows that zoonoses should be considered as emerging risks in agricultural and animal breeding and should be addressed by specific preventive interventions. Close cooperation and interaction between veterinarians, occupational health physicians and public health operators is necessary, for a worldwide strategy to expand interdisciplinary collaborations and communications in all aspects of health care for humans, animals and the environment. This is what the One Health Approach was intended to be.