As a fellow enthusiast when it comes to all things
germ-related, I’m excited to be joining Nicole on the Talk Clean to Me blog! I
have always been fascinated by understanding how diseases spread, and what we
can do to prevent infections in the world around us – whether it’s a global
pandemic like COVID-19 or one of the many other pathogens hiding in plain
sight. Throughout the year, Nicole and I will be taking turns posting about the
topics that we love, whether it’s cutting through the noise of infection
prevention myths and misinformation, or killing pathogens while keeping people
and the planet safe.
If I asked you to think of a dangerous animal, the lowly
mosquito might not be the first thing that comes to mind. But causing almost
700 million illnesses and a million deaths each year definitely earns mosquitos
the top spot – malaria, dengue,
West
Nile virus and Zika all
hitch a ride in mosquitos to spread from person to person. Mosquitos are far
from the only animal that can cause disease in humans – many wild animals, farm
animals and even our own pets may be harbouring viruses, bacteria or fungi that
can make us sick. In fact, it has been estimated that more than 60% of known
infectious diseases in humans can be spread from animals, and that 75% of
emerging infectious diseases that we get originate in animals.
Almost one year ago, Nicole wrote a blog to celebrate One
Health Awareness Month, a movement to recognize the connections between
human, animal, and environmental health. The blog mentioned a new coronavirus
that was causing an outbreak in China. As infectious disease geeks, we watched
closely throughout the year as this new virus morphed into a global pandemic,
bringing the whole world to a standstill. Early on, we learned that the virus
most likely emerged from bats, possibly using another animal as an intermediary
on its path to us. If there was any doubt about the importance of One Health before,
COVID-19 has certainly put a spotlight on this issue like never before.
Although COVID has dominated the headlines for the past
year, One Health is much broader than any one disease, focusing on all the ways
that our health is connected with the animals and environment around us, and
how experts in human, animal and environmental health can come together to work
on solutions to big health challenges. This can mean everything from getting
our pets vaccinated, which in turn can protect both them and us from diseases
like rabies, protecting our food animals from infection, and being careful
about how we interact with wildlife. As our footprint on nature becomes bigger
and bigger and international travel so widespread, we create a perfect storm of
conditions for a pathogen with pandemic potential to pop up.
So, has anything really changed when it comes to celebrating
One Health this year? While the focus on big health problems is higher than
ever, the same strategies that we know to be effective are still our best bet.
This means focusing on basic infection prevention such as hand hygiene and maintaining
a clean environment, practicing antimicrobial stewardship (with both people and
animals), and minimizing our contact with wild animal populations. As we
celebrate this year’s One Health Awareness Month, check out a quick
whiteboard-style video we created in the past year to put this idea into action!
https://virox.wistia.com/medias/yo39g5qyri
Matt