The world commemorates One Health Day amidst pandemic

Livestock picture from Laos (photo credit: ILRI/Stevie Mann).

Today, 3 November 2021, marks the sixth annual One Health Day, a global campaign that celebrates and brings attention to the need for a One Health approach to address health threats at the human-animal-environment interface.

One Health is a collaborative, multisectoral and transdisciplinary paradigm for framing complex public health issues. Applying its approaches, which recognize the interconnection between people, animals and their shared environment contributes to improvements in animal, human and environmental health. One Health approach plays a critical role in the context of the global COVID-19 outbreak to prevent the next pandemic.

The International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and its partners are using the One Health approach to tackle agriculture-associated risks. They are doing this by promoting and facilitating transdisciplinary partnerships to manage zoonotic and food-borne diseases, improve food safety, and reduce antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through the generation and use of knowledge, technologies and products in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs) of East and Southeast Asia including Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.

We celebrate this year’s One Health Day by featuring a selection of the ILRI East and Southeast Asia regional office’s recent research outputs on this topic.

1. Thang Nguyen-Tien, Long Thanh Pham, Duoc Trong Vu, Son Hai Tran, Lieu Thi Vu, Vuong Nghia Bui, Anh Ngoc Bui, Trung Duc Hoang, Thanh Thi Vu, Hung Nguyen-Viet, Magnusson, U., Lundkvist, Å. and Lindahl, J. 2021. Knowledge and practice on prevention of mosquito-borne diseases in livestock-keeping and non-livestock-keeping communities in Hanoi city, Vietnam: A mixed-method study. PLOS ONE 16(2): e0246032. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111191
2. Thang Nguyen-Tien, Duy Cuong Do, Xuan Luat Le, Thi Hai Dinh, Lindeborg, M., Hung Nguyen-Viet, Lundkvist, Å., Grace, D. and Lindahl, J. 2021. Risk factors of dengue fever in an urban area in Vietnam: A case-control study. BMC Public Health 21: 664. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113263
3. Hai Hoang Tuan Ngo, Luong Nguyen-Thanh, Phuc Pham-Duc, Sinh Dang-Xuan, Hang Le-Thi, Denis-Robichaud, J., Hung Nguyen-Viet, Trang T.H. Le, Grace, D. and Unger, F. 2021. Microbial contamination and associated risk factors in retailed pork from key value chains in Northern Vietnam. International Journal of Food Microbiology 346: 109163. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113206
4. Hung Nguyen-Viet, Pham, G., Lam, S., Phuc Pham-Duc, Tung Dinh-Xuan, Jing, F., Kittayapong, P., Adisasmito, W., Zinsstag, J. and Grace, D. 2021. International, transdisciplinary, and ecohealth action for sustainable agriculture in Asia. Frontiers in Public Health 9: 592311. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/111193
5. Long Pham-Thanh, Thang Nguyen-Tien, Magnusson, U., Vuong Bui-Nghia, Anh Bui-Ngoc, Duy Le-Thanh, Lundqvist, Å., Minh Can-Xuan, Thuy Nguyen-Thi Thu, Hau Vu-Thi Bich, Hu Suk Lee, Hung Nguyen-Viet and Lindahl, J. 2021. Dogs as sentinels for flavivirus exposure in urban, peri-urban and rural Hanoi, Vietnam. Viruses 13(3): 507. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113066
6. Rortana, C., Hung Nguyen-Viet, Tum, S., Unger, F., Boqvist, S., Sinh Dang-Xuan, Koam, S., Grace, D., Osbjer, K., Heng, T., Sasrim, S., Phirum, O., Sophia, R. and Lindahl, J.F. 2021. Prevalence of Salmonella spp. and Staphylococcus aureus in chicken meat and pork from Cambodian markets. Pathogens 10(5): 556. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113718
7. Söderberg, R., Lindahl, J.F., Henriksson, E., Kroesna, K., Ly, S., Sear, B., Unger, F., Tum, S., Hung Nguyen-Viet and Ström Hallenberg, G. 2021. Low prevalence of cysticercosis and Trichinella infection in pigs in rural Cambodia. Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease 6(2): 100. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114058
8. Henriksson, E., Söderberg, R., Ström Hallenberg, G., Kroesna, K., Ly, S., Sear, B., Unger, F., Tum, S., Hung Nguyen-Viet and Lindahl, J.F. 2021. Japanese encephalitis in small-scale pig farming in rural Cambodia: Pig seroprevalence and farmer awareness. Pathogens 10(5): 578. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/113720
9. Tuyen V. Ha, Kim, W., Thang Nguyen-Tien, Lindahl, J., Hung Nguyen-Viet, Nguyen Quang Thi, Huy Van Nguyen, Unger, F. and Hu Suk Lee. 2021. Spatial distribution of Culex mosquito abundance and associated risk factors in Hanoi, Vietnam. PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 15(6): e0009497. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114073
10. Nguyen-Viet, Hung, Grace, D., Unger, F., Lindahl, J., Tum, S., Dang-Xuan, Sinh, Chea, R., Ty, C., Srey, T., Young, M., Duong, C., Brown, M., Heng, T., Alonso, S., Roesel, K., Lam, S., Lore, T. and Nguyen, C. 2021. Pork and poultry safety in traditional markets in Cambodia: Understanding complexities and scaling up good interventions. ILRI Policy Brief. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/114472
11. ILRI. 2020. Five keys to retailers for safer pork in traditional markets in Vietnam. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/110374
12. ILRI. 2020. Five keys to workers for safer pork in slaughterhouses in Vietnam. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/110373
13. ILRI. 2020. Five keys to retailers for safer pork in traditional markets in Cambodia. Nairobi, Kenya: ILRI. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/110375

Earlier this year, ILRI joined 32 national and international partners in the second phase of the framework for One Health Partnership for Zoonoses (OHP), which was officially launched in Hanoi on 23 March 2021 to strengthen ongoing work in the control of zoonotic diseases, or diseases transmitted from animals to humans, in Vietnam. This initiative by the Vietnamese government will run from 2021 to 2025.

In August, ILRI and other CGIAR centres convened a series of online consultative meetings with research collaborators to gain insights on the main One Health priorities, challenges, interventions and partner organizations in Vietnam for the Protecting human health through a One Health approach initiative. Once approved, the CGIAR One Health initiative will start in January 2022 and run for an initial three years.

For further information please contact Fred Unger, ILRI regional representative for East and Southeast Asia at f.unger@cgiar.org

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