One Health

Antimicrobial resistance in bacteria has been a prominent topic of concern for the public health sector in the 21st century. While there are many factors that contribute to increasing AMR in the human population, antimicrobial use in companion animal and large animal veterinary practices is of particular interest due to the One Health paradigm.

The One Health approach, which assesses the interconnectedness of animal, human, and environmental health, fails to include and amplify Indigenous knowledge and Indigenous scientists.

U.S. meat producers continue to face challenges with how to improve production sustainability, while balancing environmental and animal wellbeing decisions. The industry is driven by changing consumer preferences and market trends that require the need for continued transformations towards a sustainable production practice.

I led a project with the Woodland Park Zoo’s Senior Conservation Scientist, Dr. Lisa Dabek, and Director of the UW Center for One Health Research, Dr. Peter Rabinowitz.

The IPC Plan is used to implement preventative measures to prioritize the health and well-being of all employees and animals on farms.

The complex interplay between routine antibiotic use and zoonotic pathogen presence makes livestock farming environments unique nexuses for the potential emergence of zoonotic diseases and/or antibiotic resistant bacteria and their resistance genes.

There is extensive research about the benefits of the human-animal bond on different health outcomes through a variety of animal assisted interventions. A population with strong connection to their companion animals, and well-documented health disparities is youth and young adults experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity.

Wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 provides an approach for assessing theinfection burden across a sewer service area. For these data to be useful for public health, measurement variability in relation to normalization methods need to be established.

Background: Ozone is a popular water sterilization agent utilized in marine mammal husbandry to maintain the pool water in the animal enclosures. The health hazards posed by ozone are well understood, but its role as an occupational hazard, especially in marine mammal husbandry, is understudied and not well characterized.

Introduction: Infection control is important in the veterinary care setting due to the risk of zoonotic illness1–4, however research has consistently shown that veterinary workers tend to underestimate their risk and have lower rates of proper personal protective equipment (PPE) use5–9.

Exposure to zoonotic disease is a significant occupational risk in veterinary medicine. In this study, we characterized PPE use, injury frequency, and Bartonella seroreactivity in Washington State veterinary workers.

Wildlife farms are important interfaces where zoonoses can occur due to frequent and direct contact which farmers have with their animals. We hypothesized that raising wildlife species adversely affected animal farmers’ health because of the increased risk of contracting zoonotic disease, and that wearing PPE would reduce the likelihood of that outcome.

Antimicrobial resistant bacteria (ARB) can be shared between humans and animals through a common environment. The surveillance of ARB in the environment can inform us about contamination of shared ecosystems, like the Salish Sea, and how that contamination affects both the animals that rely on the ecosystem and humans who also live within it.

Compassion fatigue has been described in various “caring professions” across the human medical field. Recently, compassion fatigue has been identified as a concern in animal care professions, specifically veterinary medicine.

Background: Many studies have linked childhood farm exposures to a protective effect against allergy and asthma. Although continued exposure in adulthood may maintain this effect, little work has been done looking specifically at adult occupational exposures.

No study has been undertaken in Washington state to determine if there is an association between agricultural fairs and Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli (STEC) infections, despite a fair-associated outbreak in 2015 that sickened 60 people.

Background: Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) as a process for natural gas extraction has potential to expose nearby residents to environmental hazards, but the extent of the hazard remains poorly understood.

  This study explored the perceived occupational exposures and health impacts of disaster scientists and experts that performed reconnaissance in Ridgecrest, CA, following the magnitude 6.4 and 7.1 earthquakes that occurred on July 4 and 5, 2019.

Introduction

Introduction to Laboratory Animal Allergy

The University of Washington Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences Continuing Education Programs is designing a new online course titled “Agricultural Workers and Zoonotic Diseases: One Health Approach to Infection Prevention and Control on the Farm.” The course is in collaboration with UW Center for One Health Research and the UW Medicine, Division of Allergy and

With current evidence of increased chemical contamination and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in environmental samples from the Salish Sea, it is important to examine its resident wildlife to further investigate the detrimental effects of these anthropogenic pressures.

Background: Worldwide, dengue fever is the most common arboviral disease in humans with an estimated 50–100 million dengue infections annually.

Background: Studies have reported that agricultural workers have elevated rates of respiratory health issues; however, the literature on respiratory function in dairy workers is limited and contradictory. Dairy work involves more exposure to dust and gases when compared to other occupations.

Background: The built environment affects the health of a community in a multitude of ways. One of those ways is through changing an individual’s exposure to environmental contaminants, such as bacterial pathogens. Another is through the availability of food.

The Washington State Department of Health (WADOH) Public Health Laboratories (PHL) processes hundreds of animal specimens each year for rabies testing. These specimens include bats, squirrels, cats, dogs, ferrets and other mammals. Although most specimens in Washington test negative for rabies, suspected rabies exposures are a notifiable condition and resources are put into rabies testing.

Mountain Gorilla Veterinary Project (MGVP) is dedicated to the conservation of mountain gorillas in East Africa, using an intensive emergency veterinary approach to support the recovery of this highly endangered species. Based on the concern that gorilla health is threatened by exposure to human pathogens, MGVP launched a program to fill critical health service gaps for its employees.

With antimicrobial resistance being one of the top global public health threats, integrated antimicrobial resistance surveillance systems are critical in gathering data, understanding resistance trends, creating stewardship plans and accurately quantifying resistance at national and local levels.

Traditional zoonotic disease research efforts centered on detection of high profile pathogens may miss opportunities to understand broader microbial transmission dynamics between humans, animals, and the environment.

Background: Salmonellosis is a common food-borne gastrointestinal infection causing diarrhea, upset stomach, and sometimes vomiting. Each year there are 600-800 cases of salmonellosis reported to the Washington State Department of Health.