A holistic One Health approach

WHY B.C. NEEDS A HOLISTIC ONE HEALTH APPROACH

Policies and practices at the intersection of human, animal and environmental health will net social, environmental and economic benefits

PASCAL SPOTHELFER

Each year, the effects of climate change make the connection between human, animal and environmental health clearer. Equally apparent is the need to examine and understand health impacts from a ‘One Health’ perspective. The flooding that occurred in southern British Columbia in late 2021 resulted in the death of over 640,000 animals. An estimated 4,000 tonnes of unharvested vegetables were also lost and three in-land fish farms in the Fraser Valley were severely damaged. This event demonstrated how interconnected crises can be as it displaced nearly 15,000 people from their homes during a time when COVID-19 cases were surging due to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

In early 2022, authorities monitoring the spread of Avian Influenza H5N1 estimated that more than two million farmed birds were impacted by the virus in Canada, significantly impacting animal health and human food supply.

These events underscore the need for a holistic One Health approach in British Columbia. Recognizing that a siloed approach cannot solve complex and multifaceted issues, One Health emphasizes the links between human, animal and environmental health. Interdisciplinary inputs are required to detect, prepare, prevent and respond to these challenges. Policies aligned with the principles of the One Health concept could strengthen the identification, monitoring and prevention of health risks among animals, humans and environments.

One Health efforts are already being championed in British Columbia. Genome BC works closely with government ministries and leading clinical genomics researchers to explore how this approach can advance BC’s genomics capacity and benefit the province.

Genomic technology and services are particularly impactful for surveillance. Several Genome BC-funded projects have developed powerful cross-disciplinary surveillance tools that are helping identify and mitigate risks to human health and agriculture. As early as 2015, Genome BC funded a project in partnership with Genome Canada that led to the development of the world’s first early warning system for Avian Influenza based on genomics analysis of wetland sediment. The novel methodology was validated in field studies over two years by demonstrating that the level of detection of Avian Influenza sequences in sediment samples was 37 times more effective for detection compared to previous surveillance programs.

At the outset of the pandemic, Genome BC funded an initiative, led by British Columbia’s Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) Public Health Laboratory, that incorporated genomic analysis into tracking the SARS-CoV-2 virus, adding a critical new dimension to B.C.’s outbreak response. Genome BC also funded a project that surveilled the presence of COVID-19 in farmed mink. This project tracked how the virus impacted mink farms and monitored potential spillover into nearby wild animals. Activities like this help build capacity for future pathogen tracking.

A funding partnership between Genome BC and B.C.’s Ministry of Agriculture and Food further expanded the province’s outbreak response capability. Under this partnership, interdisciplinary teams from BCCDC, the University of British Columbia and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency developed sequencing tools to identify strains of norovirus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, a pathogenic bacterium present in marine and coastal environments. These tools change how shellfish-related illness outbreaks and food safety investigations are handled.

Zoonotic diseases like COVID-19 and norovirus are examples of how animal encounters can impact human health. The likelihood of these encounters increases when nature is pushed to its limits. Human activities like resource extraction, agricultural conversion and urbanization impact ecosystems and propel habitat fragmentation – the most significant contributing factor to biodiversity loss. This habitat destruction removes natural buffers, expanding the interface between wildlife and people, where pandemics emerge. This decline in biodiversity reduces the ability of ecosystems to provide essential life-sustaining services – like agricultural productivity, food security, medicines and disease prevention – leading to adverse outcomes for health and well being.

Adopting a One Health approach is essential, as it illuminates the links between healthy ecosystems and human and animal health. Opportunities to expand and accelerate the implementation of One Health through provincial policy are necessary to provide social, environmental and economic benefits to all people in British Columbia. ç

Pascal Spothelfer is president and CEO of Genome BC.

ADOPTING A ONE HEALTH APPROACH IS ESSENTIAL, AS IT ILLUMINATES THE LINKS BETWEEN HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS AND HUMAN AND ANIMAL HEALTH