“One Health is the collaborative efforts of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals, plants and our environment.”
“One Health implementation will help protect and/or save untold millions of lives in our generation and for those to come.”
“Between animal and human medicine there are no dividing lines--nor should there be.” Rudolf Virchow, MD (the father of cellular pathology)
By One Health Initiative Autonomous pro bono Team:
Laura H. Kahn, MD, MPH, MPP ▪ Bruce Kaplan, DVM ▪ Thomas P. Monath, MD ▪
Jack Woodall, PhD ▪ Lisa A. Conti, DVM, MPH
The One Health Concept is generally defined as “a worldwide strategy for expanding interdisciplinary collaborations and communications in all aspects of health care for humans, animals and the environment. The synergism achieved will advance health care for the 21st century and beyond by accelerating biomedical research discoveries, enhancing public health efficacy, expeditiously expanding the scientific knowledge base, and improving medical education and clinical care. When properly implemented, it will help protect and save untold millions of lives in our present and future generations.” “One Health” has been the most commonly used term for the concept in the early 21st century. This evolved from the term “One Medicine” used during the latter half of the 20th century, first coined and promoted by veterinarian Calvin Schwabe, DVM, MPH, ScD .
The One Health Initiative team was founded originally by physician Laura H. Kahn, MD, MPH, MPP, veterinarian Bruce Kaplan, DVM, and physician Thomas P. Monath, MD in 2007 for the purpose of promoting the One Health concept. The team was expanded to include health research scientist Jack Woodall, PhD in 2009 and veterinarian Lisa A. Conti, DVM, MPH in 2012. Drs. Kahn, Kaplan and Monath initiated the One Health Initiative Web site in October 2008. Please visit http://fridayletter.asph.org/article_view.cfm?FLE_Index=8121&FL_Index=1537 and http://wws.princeton.edu/coverstories/onehealth_10-08/.
Over the last few years the OHI Web site’s individual daily/monthly visits (currently over 600 visits per day) from over 150 countries has expanded exponentially. It has been referred to internationally by many as the “clearing house for all pertinent One Health information worldwide” and recently some prominent One Health advocates have called it the “New York Times of One Health”.
However, there are numerous other highly informative One Health oriented national and international Web sites from U.S. Government agencies (e.g. the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Animal Plant and Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS), U.S. and international university institutions, the One Health Commission, a U.S. based incorporated organization, and others. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Health.
The policy of the One Health Initiative team has always been and continues to provide free access for reading and submitting acceptable One Health News, Publications, and Upcoming Events items for posting on the OHI Web site. All One Health “silos,” i.e. reputable organizations, and individuals in the U.S. and worldwide are recognized and welcomed as supporter/advocates without discrimination.
The OHI team works pro bono and requires/accepts no fees whatsoever from any and all One Health supporter/advocate organizations and individuals who wish to participate.
The OHI team’s purpose and goals are strictly for educating international multidisciplinary scientific communities, political and governmental leaders, the general public, and news media about the One Health concept and helping to promote the One Health concept’s expeditious implementation worldwide. This has been done via numerous publications and book chapters (see below) as well as through the OHI Web site’s posting contributions over the years.
The One Health concept has been successfully applied to many clinical health and public health milieus, primarily during the 19th, 20th and early 21st centuries. Some significant examples of clinical health advances through comparative medical/surgical endeavors occurred during the past three centuries using the One Health approach.
A recently described desirable comparative medicine promotional activity is termed “Zoobiquity,” which mimics past One Health history.
Although there have not been enough comparative medical/surgical research efforts (i.e., utilizing an interdisciplinary collaborative One Health approach), the One Health Initiative Web site has been posting important examples of research advances since 2009 and are noted on this PDF.
As mentioned, there are many other significant illustrations of clinical research and public health successes extending back through the last three centuries and before.
Public health achievements utilizing the One Health approach are even more prolific than clinical health endeavors and have been described in the News and Publications pages of the One Health Initiative Web site as well as in many other reference publications worldwide. This has been illustrated by some of the prominent One Health support endorsements on the One Health Initiative Web site.
Much more activity in this arena is essential and indeed critical in today’s rapidly evolving dangerous emerging and reemerging zoonotic diseases’ environment.
In addition, please note the following links elucidating much of the One Health approaches past, present and enormous potential future achievements/benefits for society once fully implemented:
Please see three separate interviews with the One Health Initiative team members published in the International Innovations magazine:
Important informational links:
Pertinent One Health references:
Pertinent textbook references:
Human-Animal Medicine – Clinical Approaches to Zoonoses, Toxicants and other Shared Health Risks
:: Click Here :: - 1st Edition (2010)
Handbook For Zoonotic Diseases of Companion Animals
:: Click Here :: - 1st Edition (2008)
Jekel’s Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Preventive Medicine, and Public Health (Chapter 30—One Health: Interdependence of People, Other Species, and the Planet)
:: Click Here :: - 4th Edition (2013)
Practicing "One Health" for the Human Health Clinician (Physicians, Osteopaths, Physician Associates, Nurse Practitioners, Other Human Health Care Providers) - April 2012:
English and Spanish language versions (respectively)
:: View PDF - English Version ::
:: View PDF - Spanish Version ::
AVMA One Health resources http://www.avma.org/onehealth/
Some Other Notable Enlightening U.S. And International One Health Publication And News Media Links:
Kahn, L.H. Confronting Zoonoses, Linking Human and Veterinary Medicine. Emerging Infectious Diseases. April 2006; 12: 556-561. http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol12no04/05-0956.htm
Kahn, L.H. Final Report to the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation. A Comparative Study of Four States’ Public Health Systems: Survey Results from Local Health Departments, Physicians, and Veterinarians (August 2006). http://www.princeton.edu/~globsec/Macy/index.html
http://scienceblogs.com/effectmeasure/2006/12/the_bird_flu_investment.php#c286063
Kahn LH, Kaplan B, Steele JH. Confronting zoonoses through closer collaboration between medicine and veterinary medicine (as ‘One Medicine’) Veterinaria Italiana 2007; 43: 5-19. http://www.izs.it/vet_italiana/2007/43_1/5_19.pdf
SCIENCE Magazine June 2007 by M. Enserink http://www.zoo.ba.gov.br/biblioteca/veterinaria/medicinaveterinaria_medicinahumana.pdf
Kahn LH, Kaplan B, Monath TP, Steele JH. “Teaching ‘One Medicine, One Health.” The Journal of American Medicine, Volume 121, Issue 3, Pages 169-170 (March 2008). http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(07)01082-0/fulltext
LH Kahn, B Kaplan, TP Monath, Linking human and animal health. The San Diego Union-Tribune. San Diego, California. (May 19, 2008). http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080519/news_mz1e19kahn.html
Monath, TP PowerPoint Presentation ICEID meeting in Atlanta, GA March: http://ksvdl.com/studentorgs/phc/pdf/One_Health_ICEID_Mar08Final.pdf
Laura Kahn Op Ed Louisville Courier Journal (USA) 2006 http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/publications/Laura%20Kahn%20Courier-Journal%20op-ed%20July%207,%202006.pdf
Laura Kahn and Bruce Kaplan Op Ed St. Petersburg Times (USA) 2006 http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/publications/Laura%20Kahn%20St.%20Petersburg%20Times%20op-ed%20June%2017,%202006.pdf
Kahn, Kaplan and Monath Op Ed San Diego Union (California-USA) http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/publications/Kahn-Kaplan-Monath%20San%20Diego%20Union%20Op-Ed%20%20May,%2019%202008.pdf
December 2, 2008—B. Kaplan Guest Columnist. In age of pandemics, human and animal health intersect. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Sarasota, Florida http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20081202/COLUMNIST/812020315/
B. Kaplan Guest Columnist 2009 http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091222/COLUMNIST/912221024/2127?Title=Links-between-human-and-animal-health-gain-new-attention
Kahn LH, Kaplan B, Monath TP, Steele JH. “Teaching ‘One Medicine, One Health.” The Journal of American Medicine, Volume 121, Issue 3, Pages 169-170 (March 2008). http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343%2807%2901082-0/abstract http://www.amjmed.com/article/S0002-9343(07)01082-0/fulltext
HISTORIC “ One Health – One Medicine”: linking human, animal and environmental health” Monograph Published (first of its kind):
Veterinaria Italiana http://www.izs.it/vet_italiana/2009/45_1/45_1.htm Volume 45 (1) / January – March 2009
A One Health letter-to-the-editor of the New York Times from Laura H. Kahn, MD, MPH, MPP, Bruce Kaplan, DVM, Thomas P. Monath, MD and Jack Woodall, PhD http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/19/opinion/l19kristof.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
James Cook, DVM, PhD et. al. http://www.columbiamissourian.com/stories/2009/06/02/mu-research-may-lead-treatment-lou-gehrigs-disease/
‘ONE HEALTH’ and Parasitology Editorial, Bruce Kaplan, Laura H. Kahn, Thomas P. Monath, and Jack Woodall, “Parasites & Vectors”, Published August 12, 2009, PDF copy http://www.parasitesandvectors.com/content/pdf/1756-3305-2-36.pdf.
http://www.alnmag.com/article/case-one-health-paradigm-shift
‘One Health’ – the Rosetta stone for 21st century health and health providers
http://www.izs.it/vet_italiana/2009/45_3/377.htm; http://www.izs.it/vet_italiana/2009/45_3/377.pdf
May 28, 2012 NY Times (USA) http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/science/eco-immunology-charts-pathways-of-disease-in-nature.html?_r=1&ref=science
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/10/bioterrorism-bioterror-funding-_n_1263903.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/contagion-infectious-disease-an...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/14/global-pandemic-animals_n_11482...
http://www.princeton.edu/sgs/publications/articles/OneHealth-article-June-2010.pdf
Food Animals and One Health http://www.cattlenetwork.com/bovine-vet/food-animal-veterinarians-and-one-health-113921799.html
U.S. Health and Human Services Global Health.gov http://www.globalhealth.gov/global-programs-and-initiatives/one-health/
Infection Ecology and Epidemiology, Friday 14 July 2011 http://www.infectionecologyandepidemiology.net/index.php/iee/article/view/7919/html_176 Citation: Infection Ecology and Epidemiology 2011, 1: 7919 - DOI: 10.3402/iee.v1i0.7919 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3058651/
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/animals-harbour-a-deadly-time-bomb-20110708-1h6md.html
Institute for Laboratory Animal Research (ILAR) Journal, 2010, T. P. Monath, MD, L. H. Kahn, MD, MPH, MPP, and B. Kaplan, DVM, Volume 51 Number 3, “One Health: The Intersection of Humans, Animals, and the Environment: http://dels-old.nas.edu/ilar_n/ilarjournal/51_3/html/
http://www.cvm.ncsu.edu/ccmtr/onemedicine.html
http://speakingofresearch.com/facts/veterinary-benefits/
http://www.jennervaccinefoundation.org/JennerNewsletter_web.pdf
http://www.intute.ac.uk/cgi-bin/fullrecord.pl?handle=20091027-09370635
http://phpartners.org/veterinary.html
http://veterinaryrecord.bvapublications.com/cgi/reprint/157/22/673
Anyone wishing to contact the One Health Initiative team and/or OHI Web site is asked to send e-mail messages to kkm@onehealthinitiative.com.