One Health–IL Veterinary Resources

One Health is the collaborative effort of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally, and globally to attain optimal health for people, animals, and the environment.  Veterinarians are the profession that most often interacts with health issues impacting people, animals and the environment.

The AVMA website best explains the importance of One Health in its description of factors impacting the discussion. It states as the human population continues to increase and expand in the world, the interconnection of people, animals, and our environment becomes more significant and impactful.

• The world’s total population exceeded 7 billion people in 2011, and it continues to climb.
• As our population expands geographically, the contact between human and wild animal habitats increases, introducing the risk of exposure to new viruses, bacteria and other disease-causing pathogens.
• Advancing technologies and science-based evidence is increasing the awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the interdependency of the health of humans, animals, and the environment.
• The human-animal bond continues to grow throughout societies.
• It is estimated that at least 75% of emerging and re-emerging diseases are either zoonotic (spread between humans and animals) or vector-borne (carried from infected animals to others through insects).
• Vigilant protection of our food and feed supplies from food-borne diseases, contamination, and acts of terrorism is critical for human and animal health.
• Contamination by personal care products and pharmaceuticals has been detected in our waters.