Linking Human Health and Livestock Health: A “One-Health” Platform for Integrated Analysis of Human Health,Livestock Health,and Economic Welfare in Livestock Dependent Communities

Background

For most rural households in sub-Saharan Africa, healthy livestock play a key role in averting the burden associated with zoonotic diseases, and in meeting household nutritional and socio-economic needs. However, there is limited understanding of the complex nutritional, socio-economic, and zoonotic pathways that link livestock health to human health and welfare. Here we describe a platform for integrated human health, animal health and economic welfare analysis designed to address this challenge. We provide baseline epidemiological data on disease syndromes in humans and the animals they keep, and provide examples of relationships between human health, animal health and household socio-economic status.

Method

We designed a study to obtain syndromic disease data in animals along with economic and behavioral information for 1500 rural households in Western Kenya already participating in a human syndromic disease surveillance study. Data collection started in February 2013, and each household is visited bi-weekly and data on four human syndromes (fever, jaundice, diarrhea and respiratory illness) and nine animal syndromes (death, respiratory, reproductive, musculoskeletal, nervous, urogenital, digestive, udder disorders, and skin disorders in cattle, sheep, goats and chickens) are collected. Additionally, data from a comprehensive socio-economic survey is collected every 3 months in each of the study households.

Findings

Data from the first year of study showed 93% of the households owned at least one form of livestock (55%, 19%, 41% and 88% own cattle, sheep, goats and chickens respectively). Digestive disorders, mainly diarrhea episodes, were the most common syndromes observed in cattle, goats and sheep, accounting for 56% of all livestock syndromes, followed by respiratory illnesses (18%). In humans, respiratory illnesses accounted for 54% of all illnesses reported, followed by acute febrile illnesses (40%) and diarrhea illnesses (5%). While controlling for household size, the incidence of human illness increased 1.31-fold for every 10 cases of animal illness or death observed (95% CI 1.16–1.49). Access and utilization of animal source foods such as milk and eggs were positively associated with the number of cattle and chickens owned by the household. Additionally, health care seeking was correlated with household incomes and wealth, which were in turn correlated with livestock herd size.

Conclusion

This study platform provides a unique longitudinal dataset that allows for the determination and quantification of linkages between human and animal health, including the impact of healthy animals on human disease averted, malnutrition, household educational attainment, and income levels.     

Ecosystem Health and Sustainability创刊

<正>2015年3月18日,Ecosystem Health and Sustainability(EHS,ISSN:2332-8878)创刊,为全球生态学科技工作者提供了又一个高水平的出版平台。EHS由中国生态学学会与美国生态学会共同出版,是全球第一本由不同国家生态学会合作出版的学术期刊。EHS希望运用现代出版技术和理念,打破国家和学科壁垒,为全世界,特     

Ecosystem Health and Sustainability征稿

正Ecosystem Health and Sustainability(EHS,ISSN 2332-8878),一本全新的、开放获取、在线出版国际期刊。由美国生态学会(ESA)与中国生态学学会(ESC)合作出版。EHS于2015年3月创刊,主要报道宏观生态学和可持续性科学。重点关注人类活动如何影响生态系统的变化,特别关注如何将生态学应用到可持续发展决策中的系统性方法。EHS的国际顾问委员会由23位科学家组成,其中包括多位泰勒奖和沃尔沃奖获得者、     

Ecosystem Health and Sustainability创刊

<正>2015年3月18日,Ecosystem Health and Sustainability(EHS,ISSN:2332-8878)创刊,为全球生态学科技工作者提供了又一个高水平的出版平台。EHS由中国生态学学会与美国生态学会共同出版,是全球第一本由不同国家生态学会合作出版的学术期刊。EHS希望运用现代出版技术和理念,打破国家和学科壁垒,为全世界,特     

Ecosystem Health and Sustainability创刊

<正>2015年3月18日,Ecosystem Health and Sustainability(EHS,ISSN:2332-8878)创刊,为全球生态学科技工作者提供了又一个高水平的出版平台。EHS由中国生态学学会与美国生态学会共同出版,是全球第一本由不同国家生态学会合作出版的学术期刊。EHS希望运用现代出版技术和理念,打破国家和学科壁垒,为全世界,特别是发展中国家和新兴经济体的生态学家提供一个高水平的国际学术交流平台,促进发展中国家与发达国家生态学研究成果的学术交流。     

Ecosystem Health and Sustainability创刊

<正>2015年3月18日,Ecosystem Health and Sustainability(EHS,ISSN:2332-8878)创刊,为全球生态学科技工作者提供了又一个高水平的出版平台。EHS由中国生态学学会与美国生态学会共同出版,是全球第一本由不同国家生态学会合作出版的学术期刊。EHS希望运用现代出版技     

“One Health” or Three? Publication Silos Among the One Health Disciplines

The One Health initiative is a global effort fostering interdisciplinary collaborations to address challenges in human, animal, and environmental health. While One Health has received considerable press, its benefits remain unclear because its effects have not been quantitatively described. We systematically surveyed the published literature and used social network analysis to measure interdisciplinarity in One Health studies constructing dynamic pathogen transmission models. The number of publications fulfilling our search criteria increased by 14.6% per year, which is faster than growth rates for life sciences as a whole and for most biology subdisciplines. Surveyed publications clustered into three communities: one used by ecologists, one used by veterinarians, and a third diverse-authorship community used by population biologists, mathematicians, epidemiologists, and experts in human health. Overlap between these communities increased through time in terms of author number, diversity of co-author affiliations, and diversity of citations. However, communities continue to differ in the systems studied, questions asked, and methods employed. While the infectious disease research community has made significant progress toward integrating its participating disciplines, some segregation—especially along the veterinary/ecological research interface—remains.     

IMS Health展望全球医药市场

据IMS Health近期公布的数据显示,2005年处方药的销售量增长了7％,销售额为6020亿美元。美国仍然独占鳌头,年销售量为2520亿美元。但是美国及另外九个大市场的销售量只增长了5．7％,而中国、俄罗斯、韩国、墨西哥等新兴市场的销售量增长了81％。其中,中国医药市场增长了约20％,达到93亿美元的市场规模;墨西哥市场增长12％,达到75亿美元的规模。拉美地区2005年医药市场增长18．5％,达到240亿美元;而不包括日本在内的亚太及非洲地区的药品销售额也达到464亿美元,增长率为11％。