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Tonight’s one health discussion was led by Dr. Jürgen Richt, a veterinary microbiologist and distinguished professor at the Kansas State College of Veterinary Medicine. He also serves as the director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence for Emerging and Zoonotic Animal Diseases (CEEZAD). Dr. Richt shared experiences from his journey in One Health, from practicing large animal medicine to doctoral studies in virology. He provided a working definition and history of one health and why a focus on identifying and preventing emerging infectious diseases is economically important. Dr. Jürgen Richt   A large amount of Dr. Richt’s research has been done on prion diseases, infectious diseases caused by pathogenic agents causing “misfolding” of normal host proteins. Examples given included: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle, Scrapie in sheep, Chronic Wasting Disease in cervids, and Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy (TME). BSE has been confir...

Tonight, (14 Feb.) Jacqueline Bailey kicked off the One Health session by presenting information on animal sentinels and their relation to biological sensors. Jacqueline Bailey is an undergraduate at Meredith college pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Biology and an International Studies minor. Her initial interest was in humanities and social sciences, but after receiving a grant to fund a community tree orchard in Mauritania, West Africa her attention turned to the sciences.  After she returned from Africa, she ran the mosquito lab of Dr. Larry Grimes and conducted some of her own research.  She hopes to join the graduate program at UNC Gillings School for Global Public Health. Jacqueline began with a brief history of how humans have utilized animals to detect specific substances such as the mine canaries as early warning systems for carbon monoxide and methane.  More recently, we have realized that dogs are capable of detecting the onset of seizures and the volatile co...

Following Ms. Bailey’s presentation on biosensors, Dr. Larry Glickman (Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health in the Department of Emergency Medicine at UNC) expanded the discussion on the practical uses of animals, namely their use as sentinels. Dr. Glickman received his VMD from Purdue in 1972, and after a 4-5 year career in small animal medicine, he decided to further his education though an MPH and DrPH at the University Of Pittsburgh School Of Public Health. It was here that he developed an interest in Toxocara canis , commonly known as Dog Roundworm. Toxocara is a common intestinal parasite found in dogs - over 95% of puppies are infected due to its transplacental and transmamary transmission. Dogs are Toxocara ’s natural host thus an infection is not often debilitating, but it became apparent to Dr. Glickman that this was a major health issue due to its zoonotic capabilities and the severe implications of an infection in children. The clinical disease from Toxocara t...

Phil Arkow is the coordinator of the National Link Coalition, a Link Consultant for both the SPCA and the Animals and Society Institute, and he also serves as Chair of the Animal Abuse and Family Violence Prevention Project, The Latham Foundation. He is a passionate writer and focuses his writing on violence prevention, humane education, animal-assisted therapy, animal shelter management, and a multidisciplinary approach to the human-animal bond. Arkow opened the discussion by showing a Venn diagram, illustrating the interconnectedness of four specific arenas: Animal Abuse, Domestic Violence, Child Maltreatment and Elder Abuse. He suggested that we can look at the status of the human condition through the lens of the animals in our lives. While it is almost universally accepted that pets are healthy additions to our lives, Arkow presented that there is a “dark side” to the human-animal bond in that animal abuse is a potential predictor of interpersonal violence. He presented the ...

The fourth weekly session of this semester’s One Health Intellectual Exchange series focused on the impact of environmental toxins on animal and human health and featured presentations by Drs. Joel Meyer and Derek Aday.  Their unique experiences and areas of expertise contributed richness to a complex topic and underscore the importance of One Health’s mission of encouraging interdisciplinary dialogue. Dr. Meyer, assistant professor at the Nicholas School of the Environment of Duke University, started the night off with an introduction to the concepts of epidemiology and toxicology. Through his lecture, he demonstrated the link between the two fields of study. Specifically, Dr. Myer discusses the ramifications of toxicology on human health and the role of epidemiology through examples of toxins that have been consumed by humans.  Dr. Joel Meyer, Duke University Building on Dr. Meyer’s lecture on epidemiology and toxicology, Dr. Aday’s presentation served as an illustrati...