1173. The Importance of Ecology in the One Health Approach 

It's been almost five years since the COVID-19 pandemic began. COVID-19 is a zoonotic disease, but its manifestation is closely related to environmental changes and ecosystem disturbances, such as agricultural intensification, human habitation, and invasion of ecosystems such as forests. An op-ed published in PNAS late last year highlighted the importance of an ecological perspective in the One Health approach in light of the relationship between biodiversity loss, climate extremes, habitat fragmentation, and the emergence of emerging infectious diseases.
 

Over the past 40-50 years, when warming has accelerated, plant and animal diversity has declined significantly (50-68%), while zoonotic diseases have increased since the first records were kept in 1940, with more than 44 million cases in 219 countries. However, while research has focused on the analysis of animals and pathogens themselves, less emphasis has been placed on the ecology that affects them. To address complex and intertwined issues, ecological expertise must be utilized.

An effective interdisciplinary approach to address these issues is "One Health." Emerging in the early to mid-2000s, One Health is defined as an integrated, cross-disciplinary approach to achieving optimal health for people, animals, and the environment.

Yet at present, a medical approach dominates in One Health. From the destruction of infrastructure (collapse of buildings) to wildfires that devastate entire communities and extreme weather events, serious problems that are outside the scope of traditional medicine are causing catastrophes on a global scale, but these problems are clearly within the animal-human-environment realm. The editorial called for the need to transcend cultural differences between animal, human, and ecological disciplines, establish a global monitoring and database system, and develop better predictive models.

Reference
John L. Gittleman, “One Health” needs ecology, December 6, 2024, PNAS. 121 (50) e2413367121
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2413367121

Contributor: IIYAMA Miyuki, Information Program