Working to ensure the prominence of the small companion animal-human interface in the global One Health agenda
Created in 2010 at the recommendation of the late Emeritus Professor Michael Day, the WSAVA’s OHC is working to build international understanding of the importance of companion animal veterinary care in aspects of One Health, including the human-companion animal bond, zoonotic infectious diseases and comparative clinical research.
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At the time of its formation, the importance of companion animals in One Health was not well understood by some outside the veterinary community so the OHC aims to address this under-representation. In fact, today, the impact of companion animals in human society is more significant than ever before.
In addition to high levels of pet ownership in western countries, the popularity of owning pets – and the diversity of animals now considered to be ‘companions’ – is growing in other regions of the world, including South America and Asia. In parts of Africa, dogs are routinely kept, partly to work and partly for companionship and in other parts of the world – ‘free-roaming’ dogs and cats are often ‘owned’ by their local human community and interact with them.
As the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted so clearly, the implications for One Health, in terms of the human-companion animal bond and potential transmission of zoonotic disease are continuing to increase. The work of the WSAVA OHC has never been more important.
OHC Chair, Dr Michael Lappin, Kenneth W Smith Professor and Director of the for Companion Animal Studies in the Department of Clinical Sciences at Colorado State University, USA, says:
The WSAVA One Health Committee members and affiliate members have done an amazing job advancing our mission, both before and during the pandemic. Here are just some examples:
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Drs Khanna and Eward developed excellent materials during our focus on Comparative Oncology in 2019. You can review them here
https://www.gavinpublishers.com/articles/perspective/Annals-of-Medical-and-Clinical-Oncology/delivering-innovation-to-oncology-drug-development-through-cancer-drug-disco-development-incentive-strategy-using-comparative-oncology-perspectives-gaps-and-solutions
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It has been wonderful working with Drs Karczmar and Barton-Behravesh from the OHC and Dr Mary Marcondes from the WSAVA Scientific Committee to produce our regular updates on COVID and Companion Animals for WSAVA members
https://wsava.org/news/highlighted-news/the-new-coronavirus-and-companion-animals-advice-for-wsava-members/
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Other members and affiliates are involved in our upcoming focus areas that include the creation of WSAVA Zoonosis Guidelines and highlighting domestic violence as a One Health Issue.
Dr Michael Lappin
Chair of the WSAVA One Health Committee
The OHC’s work would not be possible without the support of the WSAVA’s Industry Partners, MSD Animal Health, the Purina Institute, and Zoetis. We thank them for their support during the last year. We also welcome Boehringer Ingelheim as a new Partner for the One Health Committee. We look forward to accomplishing great things with the support of all of our Partners in the year ahead.
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