Approximately 99% of endemic zoonotic infections in humans originate from domesticated animals, within anthropogenic environments, either directly or indirectly through contaminated food or vectors1. Additionally, over 60% of human emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) are zoonotic2. Although direct zoonotic spillover from wildlife is rare and wildlife-to-human transmission typically occurs through indirect transmission1, more than 70% of these zoonotic emergences are caused by pathogens with a wildlife origin2. However, the full host breadth of endemic and emerging zoonotic agents as well as their animal and environmental reservoirs are rarely identified nor mapped comprehensively.
This project, initiated in 2021, involves collecting and structuring data from the literature on zoonotic agents circulating in Austria. It adopts a One Health framework to describe the complexity of the animal-human-environment interface and the intricate multi-source, multi-agent zoonotic systems.
One Health
“One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and op-timize the health of people, animals, and ecosystems. It recognizes the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the wider environment (including ecosystems) are closely linked and interdependent” -- One Health High Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1010537).
Published Paper
Amélie Desvars-Larrive, Anna Elisabeth Vogl, Gavrila Amadea Puspitarani, Liuhuaying Yang, Anja Joachim & Annemarie Käsbohrer. A One Health framework for exploring zoonotic interactions demonstrated through a case study. Nature Communications 15, 5650 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-49967-7
Credits
This is a collaborative work between Complexity Science Hub and the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna.
1. Kock R, Caceres-Escobar H. Situation analysis on the roles and risks of wildlife in the emergence of human infectious diseases. Gland, Switzerland: IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC), 2022.
2. Jones KE, Patel NG, Levy MA, et al. Global trends in emerging infectious diseases. Nature 2008; 451: 990-3.