How to Prevent a Pandemic

One Health

Over the last 20 years, there has been a change in how we view zoonotic diseases. Clearly the causes of  these spillover events (from animals to people) are not  isolated but are part of a larger picture.  There is a movement to examine the  health of  people, animals and the environment together. This called One Health  or sometimes EcoHealth and draws on the use of  many disciplines,  different communities, public health, veterinary medicine, environmental sectors. The focus is on food, water safety, nutrition, control of zoonoses, pollution management, antimicrobial resistance, vector borne diseases, diseases in food animals. 

More information can be found at 

• Center for Disease Control and Prevention
• World Health Organization 

Components of One Health

• Raise awareness and increase understanding (knowledge) of zoonotic and emerging disease risks and prevention 
• Increase investments in interdisciplinary approaches
• Expand scientific enquiry into the complex social, economic and ecological dimensions of emerging diseases
• Improve cost-benefit analyses of emerging diseases prevention interventions to include full cost
  accounting of societal impacts of disease
• Develop effective means of monitoring and regulating practices associated with zoonotic disease, including food systems from farm to fork
• Include health considerations in incentives for (sustainable) food systems, including wildlife source foods
• Identify key drivers of emerging diseases in animal husbandry
• Support integrated management of landscapes and seascapes that enhance sustainable co-existence of agriculture and wildlife
• Strengthen existing and build new capacities among health stakeholders in all countries (especially important to work with local communities and build trust and cooperation!)

How  to Stop  A Pandemic

This article does a nice job of outlining many of the important parts of One Health, but in series of cartoons/pictures. The quiz will be based on information from this infographic. and the above paragraphs.