One Health proof of concept: Bringing a transdisciplinary approach to surveillance for zoonotic viruses at the human-wild animal interface

Abstract

As the world continues to react and respond inefficiently to emerging infectious diseases, such as Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome and the Ebola and Zika viruses, a growing transdisciplinary community has called for a more proactive and holistic approach to prevention and preparedness - One Health. Such an approach presents important opportunities to reduce the impact of disease emergence events and also to mitigate future emergence through improved cross-sectoral coordination. In an attempt to provide proof of concept of the utility of the One Health approach, the US Agency for International Development's PREDICT project consortium designed and implemented a targeted, risk-based surveillance strategy based not on humans as sentinels of disease but on detecting viruses early, at their source, where intervention strategies can be implemented before there is opportunity for spillover and spread in people or food animals. Here, we share One Health approaches used by consortium members to illustrate the potential for successful One Health outcomes that can be achieved through collaborative, transdisciplinary partnerships. PREDICT's collaboration with partners around the world on strengthening local capacity to detect hundreds of viruses in wild animals, coupled with a series of cutting-edge virological and analytical activities, have significantly improved our baseline knowledge on the zoonotic pool of viruses and the risk of exposure to people. Further testament to the success of the project's One Health approach and the work of its team of dedicated One Health professionals are the resulting 90 peer-reviewed, scientific publications in under 5 years that improve our understanding of zoonoses and the factors influencing their emergence. The findings are assisting in global health improvements, including surveillance science, diagnostic technologies, understanding of viral evolution, and ecological driver identification. Through its One Health leadership and multi-disciplinary partnerships, PREDICT has forged new networks of professionals from the human, animal, and environmental health sectors to promote global health, improving our understanding of viral disease spillover from wildlife and implementing strategies for preventing and controlling emerging disease threats.

From SARS to COVID-19: A previously unknown SARS- related coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) of pandemic potential infecting humans – Call for a One Health approach

“…Health approach represents an attempt to deal with such complex problems engaging J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f professionals from many disciplines such as human, veterinary, and environmental health, as well as social sciences [42]. The One Health approach recognizes the interrelationship between animals, humans and the environment and encourages collaborative efforts to improve the health of people and animals, including pets, livestock, and wildlife [43].…”

“…One Health teams can work to identify sources of emerging pathogens and ways to reduce the threat of outbreaks [44]. The implementation and development of One Health collaborations on a global scale are critical to reduce the threats of emerging viruses [42,43].…”

The use of animals as a surveillance tool for monitoring environmental health hazards, human health hazards and bioterrorism

“…In support of One Health, PREDICT was launched in 2009 (USAID, 2016a). The PREDICT project is part of United States Agency for International Development's (USAID's) Emerging Pandemic Threats (EPT) program, designed to identify zoonotic viral threats with pandemic potential at wildlife-human viral transmission interfaces (Kelly et al, 2016). It has successfully improved surveillance and laboratory capabilities for monitoring humans (that have had animal contact) and wildlife for new and known pathogens with outbreak potential; defined ecological and human causes of zoonosis; and reinforced and perfected models for predicting outbreaks.…”

Disease X: accelerating the development of medical countermeasures for the next pandemic

“…Thus, pandemic emergence is assumed to be likely to occur because of the following risk factors: human activities near wildlife, creation of animal source foods with little monitoring of employees and a poorly understood supply chain, insect and tick vectors, extreme population density, and constrained surveillance and laboratory capacity. [8][9][10] Consequently, we can hypothesise that the advent of a catastrophic outbreak involving Disease X is likely to result from the zoonotic transmission of a highly virulent RNA virus 11 from an area where a convergence of risk factors and population dynamics will result in sustained persontoperson transmission. This premise does not negate the need for measures against other types of pathogens of pandemic importance, but the work on Disease X that we have done is modelled on the development of medical countermeasures against this particular pathogen archetype.…”