Perspectives: Zoonoses: The One Health Approach

The One Health approach to zoonotic illnesses is predicated on the connection that exists between people, animals, and the environment. As a discipline, One Health includes specialists from multiple health sectors: human medicine and public health, veterinary medicine, and environmental health; its areas of interest cover zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food safety and food security, vectorborne diseases, and other shared health threats at the human–animal–environment interface.

No single sector can address challenges at the human–animal–environment interface alone, but coordinated efforts to identify and manage animal or environmental sources of infection can prevent, detect, and respond to infectious disease threats. For example, programs that use a One Health approach between medical and veterinary professionals have controlled rabies in animals; annual or biannual mass dog vaccination campaigns prevent human rabies deaths.