Following a proposal made by the French and German Ministers for Foreign Affairs at the November 2020 Paris Peace Forum, 4 global partners, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World ...Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Health Organization (WHO), in May 2021 established the interdisciplinary One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP) (https://www.who.int/groups/one-health-high-level-expert-panel) to enhance their cross-sectoral collaboration. There is no shortage of “One Health” definitions in the published literature and among institutions and organizations. ...an immediate priority for OHHLEP was to develop consensus around a working definition as a solid basis to support a common understanding among the panel members and the partner organizations. Key underlying principles including 1. equity between sectors and disciplines; 2. sociopolitical and multicultural parity (the doctrine that all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities) and inclusion and engagement of communities and marginalized voices; 3. socioecological equilibrium that seeks a harmonious balance between human–animal–environment interaction and acknowledging the importance of biodiversity, access to sufficient natural space and resources, and the intrinsic value of all living things within the ecosystem; 4. stewardship and the responsibility of humans to change behavior and adopt sustainable solutions that recognize the importance of animal welfare and the integrity of the whole ecosystem, thus securing the well-being of current and future generations; and 5. transdisciplinarity and multisectoral collaboration, which includes all relevant disciplines, both modern and traditional forms of knowledge and a broad representative array of perspectives. PLoS Pathog 18(6): e1010537. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1010537 About the Authors: One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP) Wiku B. Adisasmito Affiliation: Universitas Indonesia, Depok, West Java, Indonesia Salama Almuhairi Affiliation: National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Casey Barton Behravesh Affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America Pépé Bilivogui Affiliation: World Health Organization, Guinea Country Office, Conakry, Guinea Salome A. Bukachi Affiliation: Institute of Anthropology, Gender and African Studies, University of Nairobi, Nairobi, Kenya Natalia Casas Affiliation: National Ministry of Health, Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina Natalia Cediel Becerra Affiliation: School of Agricultural Sciences, Universidad de La Salle, Bogotá, Colombia Dominique F. Charron Affiliation: International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada Abhishek Chaudhary Affiliation: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, India Janice R. Ciacci Zanella Affiliation: Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa), Embrapa Swine and Poultry, Concórdia, Santa Catarina, Brazil Andrew A. Cunningham Affiliation: Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London, United Kingdom Osman Dar Affiliations Global Operations Division, United Kingdom Health Security Agency, London, United Kingdom, Global Health Programme, Chatham House, Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, United Kingdom Nitish Debnath Affiliation: Fleming Fund Country Grant to Bangladesh, DAI Global, Dhaka, Bangladesh Baptiste Dungu Affiliations Afrivet B M, Pretoria, South Africa, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Kinshasa, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic Congo Elmoubasher Farag Affiliation: Ministry of Public Health, Health Protection & Communicable Diseases Division, Doha, Qatar George F. Gao Affiliation: Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Beijing, People’s Republic of China David T. S. Hayman Affiliation: Molecular Epidemiology and Public Health Laboratory, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand Margaret Khaitsa Affiliation: Mississippi State University, Starkville, Mississippi,
Infectious diseases affect people, domestic animals and wildlife alike, with many pathogens being able to infect multiple species. Fifty years ago, following the wide-scale manufacture and use of ...antibiotics and vaccines, it seemed that the battle against infections was being won for the human population. Since then, however, and in addition to increasing antimicrobial resistance among bacterial pathogens, there has been an increase in the emergence of, mostly viral, zoonotic diseases from wildlife, sometimes causing fatal outbreaks of epidemic proportions. Concurrently, infectious disease has been identified as an increasing threat to wildlife conservation. A synthesis published in 2000 showed common anthropogenic drivers of disease threats to biodiversity and human health, including encroachment and destruction of wildlife habitat and the human-assisted spread of pathogens. Almost two decades later, the situation has not changed and, despite improved knowledge of the underlying causes, little has been done at the policy level to address these threats. For the sake of public health and wellbeing, human-kind needs to work better to conserve nature and preserve the ecosystem services, including disease regulation, that biodiversity provides while also understanding and mitigating activities which lead to disease emergence. We consider that holistic, One Health approaches to the management and mitigation of the risks of emerging infectious diseases have the greatest chance of success.
This article is part of the themed issue ‘One Health for a changing world: zoonoses, ecosystems and human well-being’.
Background and Aims
NAFLD and its more‐advanced form, steatohepatitis (NASH), is associated with obesity and is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular, liver‐related, and all‐cause mortality. ...Available human data examining hepatic mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation (FAO) and hepatic mitochondrial turnover in NAFLD and NASH are scant.
Approach and Results
To investigate this relationship, liver biopsies were obtained from patients with obesity undergoing bariatric surgery and data clustered into four groups based on hepatic histopathological classification: Control (CTRL; no disease); NAFL (steatosis only); Borderline‐NASH (steatosis with lobular inflammation or hepatocellular ballooning); and Definite‐NASH (D‐NASH; steatosis, lobular inflammation, and hepatocellular ballooning). Hepatic mitochondrial complete FAO to CO2 and the rate‐limiting enzyme in β‐oxidation (β‐hydroxyacyl‐CoA dehydrogenase activity) were reduced by ~40%–50% with D‐NASH compared with CTRL. This corresponded with increased hepatic mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production, as well as dramatic reductions in markers of mitochondrial biogenesis, autophagy, mitophagy, fission, and fusion in NAFL and NASH.
Conclusions
These findings suggest that compromised hepatic FAO and mitochondrial turnover are intimately linked to increasing NAFLD severity in patients with obesity.
Recent outbreaks of animal-borne emerging infectious diseases have likely been precipitated by a complex interplay of changing ecological, epidemiological and socio-economic factors. Here, we develop ...modelling methods that capture elements of each of these factors, to predict the risk of Ebola virus disease (EVD) across time and space. Our modelling results match previously-observed outbreak patterns with high accuracy, and suggest further outbreaks could occur across most of West and Central Africa. Trends in the underlying drivers of EVD risk suggest a 1.75 to 3.2-fold increase in the endemic rate of animal-human viral spill-overs in Africa by 2070, given current modes of healthcare intervention. Future global change scenarios with higher human population growth and lower rates of socio-economic development yield a fourfold higher likelihood of epidemics occurring as a result of spill-over events. Our modelling framework can be used to target interventions designed to reduce epidemic risk for many zoonotic diseases.
Mitigating amphibian chytridiomycoses in nature Garner, Trenton W. J.; Schmidt, Benedikt R.; Martel, An ...
Philosophical transactions - Royal Society. Biological sciences,
12/2016, Letnik:
371, Številka:
1709
Journal Article
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Odprti dostop
Amphibians across the planet face the threat of population decline and extirpation caused by the disease chytridiomycosis. Despite consensus that the fungal pathogens responsible for the disease are ...conservation issues, strategies to mitigate their impacts in the natural world are, at best, nascent. Reducing risk associated with the movement of amphibians, non-amphibian vectors and other sources of infection remains the first line of defence and a primary objective when mitigating the threat of disease in wildlife. Amphibian-associated chytridiomycete fungi and chytridiomycosis are already widespread, though, and we therefore focus on discussing options for mitigating the threats once disease emergence has occurred in wild amphibian populations. All strategies have shortcomings that need to be overcome before implementation, including stronger efforts towards understanding and addressing ethical and legal considerations. Even if these issues can be dealt with, all currently available approaches, or those under discussion, are unlikely to yield the desired conservation outcome of disease mitigation. The decision process for establishing mitigation strategies requires integrated thinking that assesses disease mitigation options critically and embeds them within more comprehensive strategies for the conservation of amphibian populations, communities and ecosystems.
This article is part of the themed issue ‘Tackling emerging fungal threats to animal health, food security and ecosystem resilience’.
Participation in conservation citizen science projects is growing rapidly and approaches to project design are diversifying. There has been a recent shift towards projects characterised by ...contributors collecting data in isolation and submitting findings online, with little training or opportunities for direct social interaction with other citizen scientists. While research is emerging on developing citizen science projects by optimising technological modalities, little consideration has been given to understanding what motivates individuals to voluntarily contribute data. Here, we use the Volunteer Functions Inventory, combined with open-ended questions, to demonstrate that the two strongest motivations underpinning participation, for both individuals who contribute data systematically (regularly; n = 177) and opportunistically (ad hoc basis; n = 218), are ‘Values’ and ‘Understanding’. People take part in such projects because they have an intrinsic value for the environment and want to support research efforts (representing ‘Values’), as well as wanting to learn and gain knowledge (signifying ‘Understanding’). Unlike more traditional citizen science projects that involve specific training and considerable time investments, contributors to these newer types of project are not motivated by the potential to develop their career or opportunities for social interaction. The person-level characteristics of contributors considered in this study did not reliably forecast levels of motivation, suggesting that predicting high levels of motivation is inherently more complex than is often speculated. We recommend avenues for future research that may further enhance our understanding of contributor motivations and the characteristics that may underpin levels of motivation.
•Large-scale conservation citizen science project formats are becoming more popular.•Understanding citizen scientist contribution motivations aids recruitment/retention.•Value for and desire to understand the environment are the primary motivations.•Career and social orientated motivations were seen as less relevant to contributors.•Person-level characteristics cannot predict levels of contributor motivation.
The amphibian chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium salamandrivorans (Bsal) infects newts and salamanders (urodele amphibians), in which it can cause fatal disease. This pathogen has caused dramatic fire ...salamander population declines in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany since its discovery in 2010. Thought to be native to Asia, it has been hypothesised that Bsal was introduced to Europe with the importation of infected amphibians for the commercial pet trade. Following the discovery of Bsal in captive amphibians in the United Kingdom in 2015, we used contact-tracing to identify epidemiologically-linked private amphibian collections in Western Europe. Of 16 linked collections identified, animals were tested from 11 and urodeles tested positive for Bsal in seven, including the identification of the pathogen in Spain for the first time. Mortality of Bsal-positive individuals was observed in five collections. Our results indicate that Bsal is likely widespread within the private amphibian trade, at least in Europe. These findings are important for informing policy regarding Bsal control strategies.
The concept of One Health, which aims to drive improvements in human, animal and ecological health through an holistic approach, has been gaining increasing support and attention in recent years. ...While this concept has much appeal, there are few examples where it has been successfully put into practice. This Special Issue explores the challenges in African contexts, with papers looking at the complex interactions between ecosystems, diseases and poverty dynamics; at underlying social and political dimensions; at the potentials for integrative modelling; and at the changes in policy and practice required to realise a One Health approach. This introductory paper offers an overview of the 11 papers, coming from diverse disciplinary perspectives, that each explore how a One Health approach can work in a world of social, economic and environmental change.
The empty forest revisited Wilkie, David S.; Bennett, Elizabeth L.; Peres, Carlos A. ...
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences,
March 2011, Letnik:
1223, Številka:
1
Journal Article
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Tropical forests are among the most species‐rich ecosystems on the planet. Some authors argue that predictions of a tropical forest extinction crisis based on analyses of deforestation rates are ...overly pessimistic since they do not take account of future agricultural abandonment as a result of rural–urban migration and subsequent secondary regrowth. Even if such regrowth occurs, it is crucial to consider threats to species that are not directly correlated with area of forest cover. Hunting is an insidious but significant driver of tropical forest defaunation, risking cascading changes in forest plant and animal composition. Ineffective legislation and enforcement along with a failure of decision makers to address the threats of hunting is fanning the fire of a tropical forest extinction crisis. If tropical forest ecosystems are to survive, the threat of unsustainable hunting must be adequately addressed now.
Bat flight and zoonotic viruses O'Shea, Thomas J; Cryan, Paul M; Cunningham, Andrew A ...
Emerging infectious diseases,
05/2014, Letnik:
20, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Bats are sources of high viral diversity and high-profile zoonotic viruses worldwide. Although apparently not pathogenic in their reservoir hosts, some viruses from bats severely affect other ...mammals, including humans. Examples include severe acute respiratory syndrome coronaviruses, Ebola and Marburg viruses, and Nipah and Hendra viruses. Factors underlying high viral diversity in bats are the subject of speculation. We hypothesize that flight, a factor common to all bats but to no other mammals, provides an intensive selective force for coexistence with viral parasites through a daily cycle that elevates metabolism and body temperature analogous to the febrile response in other mammals. On an evolutionary scale, this host-virus interaction might have resulted in the large diversity of zoonotic viruses in bats, possibly through bat viruses adapting to be more tolerant of the fever response and less virulent to their natural hosts.