Health or Planetary Health for the prevention of pandemics? – Authors’ response
- Rabinowitz PM
- Pappaioanou M
- Bardosh KL
- Conti L
Thus, the view that One Health focuses only on human-animal interaction, primarily addresses the risk of zoonotic events, and that these events occur due to urbanization, land use and of the increase in human population density, thus suggesting that One Health is sufficient to cope with the risks of a pandemic, is imperfect. Nonetheless, there is ample evidence that pathogens of zoonotic origin account for more than half of all emerging or re-emerging human infectious diseases,
- Jones KE
- Patel NG
- MA direct debit
- et al.
often with pandemic potential. We also know that the most significant pandemic of modern times (which we still live with), COVID-19, can be attributed to persistent and intense human-animal contact. Much of this interaction has been generated under conditions that dramatically increase not only the risk of inter-species transmission, but also the impact on humans, i.e. the wildlife trade.
- Palmer S
- Brown D
- Morgane D
Human activity that increases the risk and rate of disease spread (e.g. urbanization and human population density or trade and travel) has increased dramatically since the heyday of the production of mass. It is the added effect of the human element of zoonotic potential to pandemic potential that motivates us to advocate for solutions through a One Health approach.
- Haines A
- Hanson c
- Ranganathan J
in the design, coordination and synthesis of research to promote a healthy and sustainable planet.
- Amuasi JH
- Walzer C
- Heymann D
- et al.
Indeed, the limits of One Health and planetary health approaches are irrelevant when the results of pandemic management and prevention are put into perspective.
ASW and JHA are co-chairs of the Lancet A Health Commission.
The references
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A planetary vision for one health.
BMJ Glob Health. 2018; 3e001137
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Global trends in emerging infectious diseases.
Nature. 2008; 451: 990-993
- 3.
A genomic perspective on the origin and emergence of SARS-CoV-2.
Cell. 2020; 181: 223-227
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Early qualitative risk assessment of the emerging zoonotic potential of animal diseases.
BMJ. 2005; 331: 1256-1260
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Planetary Health Watch: Integrated monitoring during the Anthropocene era.
Lancet Planet Health. 2018; 2: e141-e143
- 6.
Call for a One Health COVID-19 research coalition.
Lancet. 2020; 395: 1543-1544
Item Info
Publication history
Posted: 12 December 2020
Identification
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)32392-8
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© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Emerging from its ancestral bat host in December 2019,1 maybe at a wildlife trade market in Wuhan, China,2 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) had spread around the world by mid-April 2020, infecting more than 2 million people and causing at least 130,000 deaths. Travel restrictions have been imposed, borders sealed, schools and businesses closed and more than half of humanity locked up, all to reduce the spread of this virus.
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- Health or Planetary Health for the prevention of pandemics?
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It is a well-accepted account that forest disturbance, rapid urbanization, and population growth cause zoonotic events simply by increasing close contact between humans and animals.1 However, these predictor variables (eg, urbanization, land use, human population density) explain only about 30% of the total variation in zoonotic potential.2 Thanks to technological advances, it has been shown that vertebrate RNA viruses, despite transmission between species, have co-evolved with their hosts for millions of years, only reinforcing the theory that zoonotic diseases caused by the overflow of the RNA virus, such as COVID-19, are linked to human activities and the transformation of ecosystems.
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