Taking forward a 'One Health' approach for turning the tide against the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus and other zoonotic pathogens with epidemic potential.
The appearance of novel pathogens of humans with epidemic potential and high mortality rates have threatened global health security for centuries. Over the past few decades new zoonotic infectious diseases of humans caused by pathogens arising from animal reservoirs have included West Nile virus, Yellow fever virus, Ebola virus, Nipah virus, Lassa Fever virus, Hanta virus, Dengue fever virus, Rift Valley fever virus, Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, and Zika virus. The recent Ebola Virus Disease epidemic in West Africa and the ongoing Zika Virus outbreak in South America highlight the urgent need for local, regional and international public health systems to be be more coordinated and better prepared. The One Health concept focuses on the relationship and interconnectedness between Humans, Animals and the Environment, and recognizes that the health and wellbeing of humans is intimately connected to the health of animals and their environment (and vice versa). Critical to the establishment of a One Health platform is the creation of a multidisciplinary team with a range of expertise including public health officers, physicians, veterinarians, animal husbandry specialists, agriculturalists, ecologists, vector biologists, viral phylogeneticists, and researchers to co-operate, collaborate to learn more about zoonotic spread between animals, humans and the environment and to monitor, respond to and prevent major outbreaks. We discuss the unique opportunities for Middle Eastern and African stakeholders to take leadership in building equitable and effective partnerships with all stakeholders involved in human and health systems to take forward a 'One Health' approach to control such zoonotic pathogens with epidemic potential.
Division of Infection and Immunity, University College London and NIHR Biomedical Research Centre, UCL Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
Alimuddin
A
Zumla
Public Health England, London, Chatham House Centre on Global Health Security, Royal Institute of International Affairs, London, UK.
Osman
O
Dar
Department of Pathology and Pathogen Biology, The Royal Veterinary College, Hertfordshire, UK.
Richard
R
Kock
Kenya Zoonotic Diseases Unit, Nairobi, Kenya.
Matthew
M
Muturi
Fondation Congolaise pour la Recherche Médicale, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; Institute for Tropical Medicine, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Francine
F
Ntoumi
Medical Research Council/Uganda Virus Research Institute Research Unit on AIDS, Entebbe, Uganda.
Pontiano
P
Kaleebu
Centro de Investigação em Saude de Manhiça, and National Directorate of Public Health, Ministry of Health, Maputo, Mozambique.
Macete
M
Eusebio
Muhimbili Medical Research Centre, National Institute for Medical Research, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Sayoki
S
Mfinanga
UNZA-UCLMS Project, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia.
Matthew
M
Bates
UNZA-UCLMS Project, University Teaching Hospital, Lusaka, Zambia.
Peter
P
Mwaba
Mercy Hospital Research Laboratory, Kulanda Town, Bo, Sierra Leone.
Rashid
R
Ansumana
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK; Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
Mishal
M
Khan
KSU Mammals Research Chair, Zoology Department, College of Science, King Saud University, Saudi Arabia.
Abdulaziz N
AN
Alagaili
The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Cambridge, UK.
Matthew
M
Cotten
Special Infectious Agents Unit, King Fahd Medical Research Centre, and Medical Laboratory Technology Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Esam I
EI
Azhar
Division of Therapeutic Immunology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
Markus
M
Maeurer
"Lazzaro Spallanzani" National Institute for Infectious Diseases - IRCCS, Rome, Italy.
Giuseppe
G
Ippolito
University of Aarhus, Aarhus, Denmark; The Royal Hospital, Muscat, Oman. Electronic address: eskildp@dadlnet.dk.
Eskild
E
Petersen
D000354:Africa, Western / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D018352:Coronavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D029043:Ebolavirus; D058872:Epidemics / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D014943:Global Health; D003225:Hemorrhagic Fever Virus, Crimean-Congo; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D065207:Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus; D045473:Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus; D013020:South America / Q000453:epidemiology; D000071244:Zika Virus; D000071243:Zika Virus Infection / Q000453:epidemiology; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology*
Camels; Epidemic; MERS-CoV; One Health; Zoonoses