The human population has battled infections spread via animals, but public awareness of zoonotic disease may never have been more acute. Bovine Spongiform Encephalitis (BSE) - the Mad Cow Disease-, Avian influenza, Marburg hemorrhagic fever, Ebola virus disease and West Nile virus have gained a high profile as animal-related (zoonotic) diseases.

Bovine tuberculosis (which predisposes to HIV/AIDS), Leptospirosis (dog-which has recorded increased incidence), Hantavirus (mice), salmonella (chicken), E. coli (cattle), Newcastle disease (wild and domesticated birds), toxoplasmosis (cats), giardiasis (beaver fever), trichinosis (swine), neuro-cysticercosis (swine) and rabies (dogs/bats), have all long existed.

Developing a new integrative "one medicine" approach, which combines the resources of public health, veterinary medicine (more specifically zoonoses) , and environmental epidemiology/Epizootiology, to Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Diseases (FAZD), has been recognized as the major approach to meeting the challenge of emerging zoonotic diseases- diseases transmitted to humans from animals. This approach is one of agenda of a USA National Conference on establishing an "Academic Network on Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Disease.”, organized by the Department of Homeland Security's National Center for Foreign Animal and Zoonotic Diseases Defense.

Health experts from around the world met on 29 Sep 2004 for a symposium organized by the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society and hosted by Rockefeller University. Focusing on the current and potential movements of diseases among human, domestic animal, and wildlife populations and using case studies on Ebola, avian influenza, and chronic wasting disease as examples, the assembled expert panelists delineated priorities for an international, interdisciplinary approach for combating threats to the health of life on Earth.

The product, called the "Manhattan Principles" by the organizers of the "One World, One Health" event, focuses on 12 recommendations for establishing a more holistic approach to preventing epidemic/epizootic disease and for maintaining ecosystem integrity for the benefit of humans, their domesticated animals, and the foundational biodiversity that supports us all. (http://www.oneworldonehealth.org/index.html).

Said Dr. Robert A. Cook, Chief Veterinarian & Vice President, Wildlife Health Sciences, Wildlife Conservation Society, Bronx, New York 10460, USA “It is clear that no one discipline or sector of society has enough knowledge and resources to prevent the emergence or resurgence of diseases in today’s globalized world. No one nation can reverse the patterns of habitat loss and extinction that can and do undermine the health of people and animals.

Only by breaking down the barriers among agencies, individuals, specialties and sectors can we unleash the innovation and expertise needed to meet the many serious challenges to the health of people, domestic animals, and wildlife and to the integrity of ecosystems. Solving today’s threats and tomorrow’s problems cannot be accomplished with yesterday’s approaches.

We are in an era of “One World, One Health” and we must devise adaptive, forward-looking and multidisciplinary solutions to the challenges that undoubtedly lie ahead”. Representatives from the World Health Organization; the UN Food and Agriculture Organization; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; the United States Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center; the United States Department of Agriculture; the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre; the Laboratoire Nationale de Sante Publique of Brazzaville, Republic of Congo; the IUCN Commission on Environmental Law; and the Wildlife Conservation Society were among the many participants.

Support for the One Health Concept cuts across physicians and veterinarians worldwide: US Senator, Dr.Bill Frist's October 4 Aspen Institute Health Forum plenary address to an audience of 300 opinion makers, scientists, distinguished leaders, and entrepreneurs from around America issued a call to action to address emerging health challenges through One Health.

Citing his personal interest in the One Health concept sparked by his infectious disease experience as a transplant surgeon, his direct experience in responding to anthrax at the U.S. Capitol, his many medical mission trips to Africa, and his participation in gorilla veterinary health, Dr. Frist presented the history of One Health, an overview of emerging zoonotic disease, its intersection with bioterrorism, and recommendations for human and veterinary medicine. The audience's active engagement and participation reflected broad interest and a clear understanding of the limitless potential presented by cooperation between physicians and veterinarians.

President-elect of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) Thomas P. Monath, MD on October 4, 2007 notified that ASTMH has officially endorsed the One Health Initiative. Previous endorsements from major allied health organizations include the American Veterinary Medical Association, American Medical Association, Society of Tropical Veterinary Medicine, and Croatian Society for Infectious Diseases.

Prof. Stephen Leeder, MD, PhD, Director, Australian Health Policy Institute, The University of Sydney, Australia recently joined the One Health supporter list. Dr. Leeder subsequently shared an important article that he published in the August 7, 2007, Australian Doctor. Dr.Leeder’s piece cogently reinforces the argument in favor of One Health/One Medicine.

Garth Gall, dean of the faculty of medicine at the University of Calgary, has stated that because the intersection of human and animal health is the leading edge of medical research, when the U of Calgary School of Veterinary Medicine opens in September 2006, it will be affiliated with the faculty of medicine, where it will be interlinked with nursing, medicine and kinesiology. “We have a strong biomedical research program. We wanted to base the faculty of veterinary medicine on a solid foundation of inquiry and research. The people we recruit would become part of our research-intensive biomedical enterprise. All aspects of the research overlap."

Ole Nielsen, a veterinary pathologist and a retired educator who has been dean of the veterinary colleges at the University of Saskatchewan and the University of Guelph and is chair of the Alberta Veterinary Medicine Steering Committee, was quoted a saying, "SARS is a good example of comparative medicine. When you're trying to deal with disease and prevention, a comparative approach is a powerful way to understand disease phenomena." Doctors were able to get a handle on SARS very quickly because there was a tremendous body of basic knowledge about the corona virus in the literature of animal medicine.

The University of Guelph recently took a group of journalists through workshops, lectures and discussions on the work that's being done in different areas at the Ontario Veterinary College. Carlton Gyles, acting dean of the Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, was cited as saying the general public doesn't always realize it but veterinary scientists are often on the cutting edge of research that has significant human implications.

A lot of it is about how we can use animal models to study human diseases." Dorothee Bienzle, a professor in pathobiology at the Ontario Veterinary College, who gave a lecture to the group of journalist about Feline Infectious Virus, was cited as saying veterinary researchers are always thinking about any implications that their work might have for medical research

Attendees to the 2005 National Institute for Animal Agriculture’s (NIAA) symposium, ‘Protecting the Global Food Supply: Growing Concerns for Emerging Zoonotic Diseases’, were left with a very key message: we must strengthen animal and human health together. “There is a need for linkages to veterinarians, medical doctors—all health sectors,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and associate director for the Department of Homeland Security’s National Center for Food Protection and Defense at the University of Minnesota.

The unique challenges facing animal agriculture in the 21st century such as bioterrorism and zoonotic diseases as well as new technologies require schools of veterinary medicine to prepare their graduates to do more than “simply treat animal diseases” according to Dr. Bennie I. Osburn, Dean of the University of California School of Veterinary Medicine. Dr. Osburn further points out that with the large concentration of animals in various areas, emerging new diseases such as avian flu and BSE(Mad Cow Disease) as well as the treat of bioterrorism, veterinarians today need a different skill set.

CONCLUSION: THE NIGERIAN SITUATION
Issues such as food safety, public health and zoonoses are not merely the concern of individual states but are of national, and even global, importance (Hoblet et al 2003). Public Health Veterinarians in Nigeria are poised to respond to the challenge of recurrent and emerging zoonoses, with the recent approval for the resuscitation of the National Zoonoses Center at the Department of Veterinary Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Ibadan, by the National Council on Agriculture. The One Medicine collaborative approach with relevant health disciplines will be a basic strategy. An appropriate review and strengthening of the Animal Disease Control Act (Decree 10) of 1988, in the light of present universal public health realities, is a necessary perquisite in this regard.