One Health
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About One Health
One Health recognizes that the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants and the wider environment (including ecosystems) are closely linked and inter-dependent.
This approach encourages collaboration among experts in human, animal, plant and environmental health. These experts are from federal, provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous organizations and communities, academia, non-governmental organizations, industry and international partners. They work together to create sustainable solutions to prevent and respond to health threats to humans, animals and the environment.
One Health is strengthened when partners from different sectors, backgrounds and disciplines communicate, collaborate, coordinate and capacity-build. These are called the four Cs of One Health. One Health is becoming more widely used to make decisions and take action to prevent and respond to diverse health threats.
By integrating surveillance, understanding risks and taking collaborative action across sectors, a One Health approach strengthens prevention, preparedness and response, and helps manage complex issues. It also supports efforts to address broader environmental challenges, including climate change and biodiversity loss.
Common One Health issues
Examples of One Health issues that affect humans, animals, plants and the environment, and which require joint action across sectors include:
- antimicrobial resistance, when germs like bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to medicines used to prevent or treat the infections they cause
- zoonotic diseases, which are diseases that can spread between animals and people
- wildlife health, which includes monitoring diseases and their impacts on populations of wild animals
- food safety and security, ensuring safe and stable food systems, from farm to fork, for people and animals
- plant and environmental health threats such as:
- contaminated water
- impacts of extreme weather events
- habitat changes, such as deforestation
- introduction and spread of plant pathogens, pests and weeds
Changes in how people, animals and the environment interact have increased health risks in the world. Key factors that can contribute to the spread of diseases affecting people, animals and plants include:
- increased travel and trade: movement of people, animals and goods can spread diseases within Canada and globally
- closer contact with animals and their environments: farming, pet ownership and interactions with wildlife increase opportunities for diseases to pass between animals and people
- environmental changes:
- habitat loss, from deforestation or extreme weather events, can lead to increased and stressed interactions between animals and people
- climate change, which can expand the areas where animals, including plant pests and insects such as mosquitoes and ticks, can live and spread diseases
How Canada is advancing One Health
The Federal Health Portfolio is applying a One Health approach to issues and events that could pose a health threat by:
- conducting monitoring, surveillance, laboratory diagnostics, modelling, risk assessments
- using data collection and analysis to help identify potential outbreaks and allow for timely interventions, as well as active prevention and communications activities
- working with partners within Canada and abroad to support pan-Canadian and international surveillance initiatives
- ensuring robust laboratory diagnostics to provide timely detection of infectious diseases
- using modelling to assess the potential spread and impact on infectious diseases and other health threats to help inform preparedness and response
- undertaking risk assessments to evaluate potential threats to human, animal, plant and environmental health
- engaging with partners across the human-animal-plant-environment interface
- collaborating and coordinating activities and actions with national and international partners including provincial and territorial government agencies, academia, non-government organizations and industry partners
- engaging with international standard setting bodies to advocate for inclusion of human, animal, plant and environmental health considerations
- coordinating communications on preventing, preparing for and responding to threats
- providing clear and timely communications to help people in Canada make well-informed decisions to take preventive measures against threats
- building on preparedness activities to respond effectively to threats, including those with pandemic potential
- developing health emergency and pandemic prevention, preparedness and response plans, scenarios and relevant infectious disease guidance with One Health partners
- continuing research and innovation to improve understanding of threats, including infectious diseases, and developing new tools and strategies for preparedness, prevention and control
- monitoring new and evolving science to help inform current and future One Health activities
- participating in science coordination and engagement with experts to enable an evidence-based approach to threats
Related links
- Avian influenza (bird flu)
- Ticks and tick-borne diseases
- Mosquitoes and mosquito-borne diseases
- Antimicrobial resistance: What Canada's doing
- Health Canada: Antibiotic resistance in animals
- Community for Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases
- Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Antimicrobial resistance
- Canadian Institute for Health Research: Antimicrobial resistance
- Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety: Zoonotic diseases
International partners
- One Health High-Level Expert Panel
- World Health Organization: One Health
- World Organisation for Animal Health: One Health
- United Nations Environment Programme: One Health
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: One Health
- PREZODE (Preventing Zoonotic Disease Emergence)