Animal health is core to pandemic prevention
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More than two and a half years since the first confirmed cases of COVID-19, the world is now witnessing the concurrent spread of two more highly infectious diseases – monkeypox and the Marburg virus disease.
Monkeypox, for instance, has been declared a public health emergency in the United States, while the World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the outbreak of the Marburg virus disease in Ghana could represent a serious public health threat.
While they may differ in infectiousness, symptoms, and animal reservoir, these diseases all share an important characteristic. They originate – along with an estimated 70 percent of emerging diseases in humans – from wildlife. The burden of zoonotic diseases is particularly high in developing countries, with a recent report from the WHO highlighting a 63 percent rise in zoonotic outbreaks in Africa in the last decade.
That’s why preventing the next pandemic requires a renewed commitment to the inextricable principles of One Health that unites human, animal, and environmental health, as argued by HealthforAnimals in an open letter in July.
As such, this month’s Big Read highlights some of the concrete actions that governments and international bodies can take to leverage better animal health – both wild and domesticated – for improved public health and pandemic preparedness.
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Five ways governments can boost animal health to prevent future pandemics
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As governments continue their discussions around a pandemic prevention agreement at the WHO, better animal health – supported by the principles of One Health – can act as an essential first line of defense in protecting people from emerging diseases.
As outlined in a recent open letter from HealthforAnimals, animal health can play a key role at every stage of pandemic preparedness and prevention, through:
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1) Surveillance: With the vast majority of new and emerging diseases originating in animals – and primarily in wildlife – more resources should be dedicated towards detecting such diseases as early as possible. This would open a crucial window of opportunity to treat or isolate the infection in animals before outbreaks spread to humans or other animals.
2) Data sharing: The risk of animal disease outbreaks spreading to people can be reduced by promptly sharing information between public health, food safety and environmental agencies. Furthermore, by creating an international and integrated platform to exchange key alerts and updates across the public and private sectors, all stakeholders can be fully equipped to respond to emerging threats more effectively.
3) Access to medicines: Developing policies and funding mechanisms that increase the availability and affordability of veterinary medicines, services and technologies is crucial in promoting better animal health. This is particularly the case in developing countries, which face a greater burden of zoonotic diseases but often lack the required resources to deal with them effectively.
4) Investment in prevention: Prevention is ultimately better than cure. Investing in frontline veterinary services, as well as strengthening infrastructure, animal biosecurity, vaccination and access to diagnostics in nations which face a higher risk of zoonotic diseases, can halt outbreaks before they even begin.
5) Animal health voices: Veterinary and environmental experts are often neglected in the development of health policy tools, despite the increasingly recognized connection between human, animal, and environmental health. Without recognizing all three domains of One Health, public health policy is working against the public.
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The lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rapid spread of zoonotic diseases like the monkeypox and Marburg viruses, are clear. The world can no longer afford to treat the threats facing the health of humans and animals, as well as the environment at large, as distinct.
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“To ensure the world is fully prepared to face the next pandemic, the interconnected principles of a ‘One Health’ approach should be at the core of any future pandemic prevention treaty.”
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Although currently 70 percent of emerging infectious diseases originate in wildlife, climate change is rapidly raising the risk of cross-species viral transmission, according to a recent study. This is primarily due to the spread of animals to new habitats as global temperatures rise, with the world’s “biodiversity hotspots” and densely populated areas of Asia and Africa set to face increased risk of novel disease spread from more frequent encounters between mammal species.
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6 ways we can better control the spread of zoonotic diseases
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Learn more about the current state of pet, vet and owner wellbeing – including the impact of the pandemic on ownership – in our latest Pet Health Report.
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HealthforAnimals, 168 Avenue de Tervueren, 1150 Brussels, Belgium, Box 8, 5th floor
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