Zoos and public health: A partnership on the One Health frontier

Today, accredited zoos are not just places for entertainment, they are actively involved in research for conservation and health. During recent decades in which the challenges for biodiversity conservation and public health have escalated, zoos have made significant changes to address these difficulties. Zoos increasingly have four key areas of focus: education, recreation, conservation, and research. These key areas are important in addressing an interrelated global conservation (i.e. habitat and wildlife loss) and public health crisis. Zoo and public health professionals working together within a One Health framework represent a powerful alliance to address current and future conservation and public health problems around the world. For researchers, practitioners, and students, the collaboration between zoos and public health institutions offers the opportunity to both teach and operationalize this transdisciplinary approach. Using examples from our programs, we give a template for moving forward with collaborative initiatives and sustainable solutions involving partners in both zoos and public health institutions. We provide examples of cooperative programs and suggest a model for consideration in the development of further activities in this area

A global examination of ecological niche modeling to predict emerging infectious diseases: a systematic review

Introduction: As emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) increase, examining the underlying social and environmental conditions that drive EIDs is urgently needed. Ecological niche modeling (ENM) is increasingly employed to predict disease emergence based on the spatial distribution of biotic conditions and interactions, abiotic conditions, and the mobility or dispersal of vector-host species, as well as social factors that modify the host species’ spatial distribution. Still, ENM applied to EIDs is relatively new with varying algorithms and data types. We conducted a systematic review (PROSPERO: CRD42021251968) with the research question: What is the state of the science and practice of estimating ecological niches via ENM to predict the emergence and spread of vector-borne and/or zoonotic diseases? Methods: We searched five research databases and eight widely recognized One Health journals between 1995 and 2020. We screened 383 articles at the abstract level (included if study involved vector-borne or zoonotic disease and applied ENM) and 237 articles at the full-text level (included if study described ENM features and modeling processes). Our objectives were to: (1) describe the growth and distribution of studies across the types of infectious diseases, scientific fields, and geographic regions; (2) evaluate the likely effectiveness of the studies to represent ecological niches based on the biotic, abiotic, and mobility framework; (3) explain some potential pitfalls of ENM algorithms and techniques; and (4) provide specific recommendation for future studies on the analysis of ecological niches to predict EIDs. Results: We show that 99% of studies included mobility factors, 90% modeled abiotic factors with more than half in tropical climate zones, 54% modeled biotic conditions and interactions. Of the 121 studies, 7% include only biotic and mobility factors, 45% include only abiotic and mobility factors, and 45% fully integrated the biotic, abiotic, and mobility data. Only 13% of studies included modifying social factors such as land use. A majority of studies (77%) used well-recognized ENM algorithms (MaxEnt and GARP) and model selection procedures. Most studies (90%) reported model validation procedures, but only 7% reported uncertainty analysis. Discussion: Our findings bolster ENM to predict EIDs that can help inform the prevention of outbreaks and future epidemics

Variations in prevalence rates of tick-borne diseases in Zebu cattle by agroecological zone: Implications for East Coast fever immunization

East Coast fever (ECF), caused by Theileria parva, is the most important tick-borne disease of cattle in much of eastern, central and southern Africa. In Kenya, immunization against ECF has been performed in many field trials using the infection and treatment method. The main targets for immunization are the Taurine and Taurine-cross cattle, due to their high susceptibility. However, indigenous Zebu cattle may also be targets for immunization where endemic instability to this parasite exists. For both cattle types, it's important to know the prevalence of other tick-borne diseases if the frequency of acaricide application is to be reduced flowing ECF immunization. In the coast province of Kenya there are four district agroecological zones (AEZs), classified on agroclimatic factors. The environmental conditions in these AEZs vary in their suitability for Rhipicephalus appendiculatus, the main field vector of ECF. The abundance of this tick has a direct impact on the degree of endemic stability to T. parva and is hence the justification for immunization in the predominantly Zebu cattle population of the province. A serological study was conducted on 316 Zebu calves on 30 farms in three of the four agroecological zones, and prevalence rates to Theileria parva, T. mutans, Babesia bigemina, Anaplasma marginale and Cowdria ruminantium were determined. Antibody prevalence rates to T. parva differed across AEZs whereas to the other tick-borne diseases they were uniformly high. It is concluded that the justification for immunization of Zebu cattle against ECF varies with AEZ, and that any reduction in acaricide usage following immunization is unlikely to be accompanied by an increased incidence of other tick-borne diseases. The sampling methodology used in the study was evaluated for its precision, and recommendations for sampling strategy in future studies of tick-borne disease prevalence are made