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Earlier this year, the World Small Animal Veterinary Association (WSAVA) established a One Health committee with the remit of positioning small companion animals in the global One Health framework. Here, Michael Day, the chairman of that committee, explains how companion animals fit within the One Health concept
'ONE Health' or 'One Medicine' proposes the unification of the medical and veterinary professions with the establishment of collaborative ventures in clinical care, surveillance and control of cross-species disease, education, and research into disease pathogenesis, diagnosis, therapy and vaccination. The concept encompasses the human population, domestic animals and wildlife, and the impact that environmental changes ('environmental health') such as global warming will have on these populations ( Monath and others 2010 ).
The concept is not a new one as a number of enlightened individuals historically practised One Health and are regarded as the initiators of this field. In 2011, we celebrate the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the first veterinary school in Lyon by Claude Bourgelat, who wrote 'We have realised the intimacy of the relation which exists between the human and the animal machines; this relation is such that either medicine will mutually enlighten and perfect the other when we discard a derisory, harmful prejudice.'
The greats of 19th century medical research, Louis Pasteur (1822-1895), Robert Koch (1843-1910) and Rudolph Virchow (1821-1902), all investigated animal disease, with Virchow stating 'Between animal and human medicine there is no dividing line - nor should there be. The object is different but the experience obtained constitutes the basis of all medicine.'
In the UK, an early proponent of One Health was Sir John McFadyean (1853-1941) who was dually qualified as both a veterinary surgeon and medical physician and undertook research into major zoonotic diseases, largely at the Royal Veterinary College in London ( Pattison 1988 ). Sir John also founded the Journal of Comparative Pathology (in 1888), which remains an important vehicle for dissemination of such research ( Day 2008 ).
Rediscovering One Health
The 'rediscovery' of the One Health concept is widely attributed to the veterinary epidemiologist Calvin W. Schwabe ( Cardiff and others 2008 ). Academia, government and industry now well recognise the value of collaboration between human and veterinary physicians and scientists for the benefit...