One health for people, animals and environment

The One Health approach arose with the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases, a phenomena exacerbated by globalisation. It follows a simple guiding principle: to protect the health of human populations, it is essential to preserve the health of animal populations and ecosystems. Coming from a broad array of fields, researchers at INRAE are collaborating to generate knowledge and inform decision-making by stakeholders on matters of public health. Interdisciplinary projects have now become the norm.

 

The spread of zoonotic disease in recent years, such as Ebola and Covid-19 have underscored that public health challenges must be anticipated by deploying and combining discoveries in numerous disciplines. Only an interdisciplinary approach can provide the toolkit needed to grapple with the increasingly intense global challenges.

One Health, in one glimpse

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Forests, deforestation and zoonosis

How do ecosystems and biodiversity influence infectious disease emergence? The exploitation of environmental resources increase our exposure to various microbes, thus heightening the risk of new zoonotic disease, escpecially in tropical forests. At the One Forest Summit, the PREZODE initiative session explored the links between deforestation and disease emergence. The One Forest Vision initiative was also launched to improve rain forest monitoring with remote sensing and AI and improve long-term prevention.

Control of mosquito-borne diseases

Researchers from INRAE, Cirad, CEA, the University of Montpellier, and Chicago and Vanderbilt Universities in the United States have developed an innovative method for analysing the genome of the Wolbachia bacterium. This endosymbiotic bacterium infects more than 70% of insects and is capable of influencing insect transmission of pathogens such as dengue or Zika virus. They discovered a genetic element in this bacterium, opening up new avenues for research to better understand interactions with its host mosquito.

Monitoring African lakes with communities

The Wasaf project aimed to implement a process to monitor and assess the quality of freshwater in African lakes, that supply big cities. It brought together a consortium of African and French research teams studying human and environmental sciences. A positive outcome of the project, was a greater understanding of the importance of engaging with local residents along the lake. Communities may then contribute to institutional efforts to monitor and manage ecosystems sustainably.

Preventing future pandemics

Launched at the One planet Summit in January 2021, at the initiative of INRAE, IRD and Cirad, now supported by nearly 170 partners, including 15 governments, PREZODE is placing research on animal, human and environmental health at the heart of the global efforts needed to better understand, prevent, monitor, and detect early zoonotic pandemic risks.

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Insects's DNA are getting us up to date on forest health

Insect communities represent 60% of forest biodiversity. For the first time, an international research team used a DNA analysis technique to study over 200 samples of insects from Pyrenees fir forests. Their results showed that forest dieback modifies the composition of insect communities and could have an impact on ecosystem services such as pollination and decomposition. This tool could be used by forest managers to monitor biodiversity and adapt their management methods.

The Plant Health Epidemiological Surveillance Platform

In 2020, the detection of the Xylella fastidiosa bacterium in France spurred the need for a structure able to monitor and assess risks and advise managers on measures to deal with such threats. The platform provides expertise, sampling and data analysis on plant health. The scope of its activities could potentially cover any plant health danger or phenomenon which could have an impact on the health status of plants, as well as the unintentional effects of farming practices on the environment.

Wild boars as a reservoir of new pathogenic bacteria

A bacterium potentially lethal for pigs has been isolated for the first time in wild boars in France. The discovery of this bacterium, which is usually not pathogenic to humans, highlights the need to develop wildlife monitoring programmes and illustrates the importance of the Biosecurity/Animal Welfare pact, an initiative led by the French government to support livestock farmers.