Evolution of Public Health Prevention of Leptospirosis in a One Health Perspective: The Example of Mahasarakham Province (Thailand).

Leptospirosis is an endemic disease with moderate to high incidence in Mahasarakham province, Thailand. The present study was designed to assess the policy implementation mission regarding leptospirosis prevention and control from the national level to the local administrative levels, through a One Health perspective. A qualitative study was conducted, using documentation review, individual in-depth interviews with public health officers, local government officers, livestock officers who developed policy implementation tools or have responsibilities in leptospirosis prevention and control. The results show that Thailand has progressively developed a leptospirosis prevention and control policy framework at the national level, transferring the responsibility of its implementation to the local level. The province of Mahasarakham has decided to foster cooperation in leptospirosis prevention and control at the local level. However, there are insufficient linkages between provincial, district and sub-district departments to ensure comprehensive disease prevention activities at the local level concerning leptospirosis patients and the whole population.

Biodiversity and COVID-19: A report and a long road ahead to avoid another pandemic.

A report from a workshop organized by the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services on biodiversity and pandemics examined the scientific evidence on the origin of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other emerging zoonotic diseases. Here, we reflect upon the report's findings regarding how several important global initiatives are tackling the problems of preventing the emergence of zoonotic diseases by using the One Health approach.

Agro-Environmental Determinants of Leptospirosis: A Retrospective Spatiotemporal Analysis (2004-2014) in Mahasarakham Province (Thailand).

Leptospirosis has been recognized as a major public health concern in Thailand following dramatic outbreaks. We analyzed human leptospirosis incidence between 2004 and 2014 in Mahasarakham province, Northeastern Thailand, in order to identify the agronomical and environmental factors likely to explain incidence at the level of 133 sub-districts and 1982 villages of the province. We performed general additive modeling (GAM) in order to take the spatial-temporal epidemiological dynamics into account. The results of GAM analyses showed that the average slope, population size, pig density, cow density and flood cover were significantly associated with leptospirosis occurrence in a district. Our results stress the importance of livestock favoring leptospirosis transmission to humans and suggest that prevention and control of leptospirosis need strong intersectoral collaboration between the public health, the livestock department and local communities. More specifically, such collaboration should integrate leptospirosis surveillance in both public and animal health for a better control of diseases in livestock while promoting public health prevention as encouraged by the One Health approach.

Outbreaks of Vector-Borne and Zoonotic Diseases Are Associated With Changes in Forest Cover and Oil Palm Expansion at Global Scale.

Deforestation is a major cause of biodiversity loss with a negative impact on human health. This study explores at global scale whether the loss and gain of forest cover and the rise of oil palm plantations can promote outbreaks of vector-borne and zoonotic diseases. Taking into account the human population growth, we find that the increases in outbreaks of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases from 1990 to 2016 are linked with deforestation, mostly in tropical countries, and with reforestation, mostly in temperate countries. We also find that outbreaks of vector-borne diseases are associated with the increase in areas of palm oil plantations. Our study gives new support for a link between global deforestation and outbreaks of zoonotic and vector-borne diseases as well as evidences that reforestation and plantations may also contribute to epidemics of infectious diseases. The results are discussed in light of the importance of forests for biodiversity, livelihoods and human health and the need to urgently build an international governance framework to ensure the preservation of forests and the ecosystem services they provide, including the regulation of diseases. We develop recommendations to scientists, public health officers and policymakers who should reconcile the need to preserve biodiversity while taking into account the health risks posed by lack or mismanagement of forests.

Linking Biodiversity with Health and Well-being: Consequences of Scientific Pluralism for Ethics, Values and Responsibilities.

This paper investigates the ethical implications of research at the interface between biodiversity and both human and animal health. Health and sanitary crises often lead to ethical debates, especially when it comes to disruptive interventions such as forced vaccinations, quarantine, or mass culling of domestic or wild animals. In such debates, the emergence of a "Planetary health ethics" can be highlighted. Ethics and accountability principles apply to all aspects of scientific research including its technological and engineering applications, regardless of whether they are considered "hard sciences", such as state-of-the-art technology in the fields of medicine, veterinary medicine, agronomy, or environment, or "soft", such as local or global governance, health, socio-ecosystems, and the environment. Ethical reflection in the interdisciplinary field of biodiversity and health requires the examination of relevant scientific domains, such as biology, ecology, evolution, human medicine, animal medicine, anthropology, and law, and their epistemology and representation as well as scientific pluralism, which is crucial to establish genuine interdisciplinarity. Navigating the ethics-scape necessitates going beyond the hierarchy of science by recognising that scientific knowledge has implications for both scientific and non-scientific perspectives on the study of nature. The example of a Nipah virus outbreak is used to illustrate how the so-called "modern epidemiological" approach often focuses on risk factors associated with individual behavioural characteristics or collective practices, whereas the so-called "eco-social" approach focuses on global, socio-economic, and environmental factors that are the contextual causes of the health problem affecting the community. "Modern epidemiologists" aim to "correct" individual or practice factors using a "minimal set" of ethics, whereas "eco-social" scientists have to act systemically, which requires integrated research that acknowledges scientific pluralism, avoids the hierarchy of sciences, but accepts the pluralism of ethics and values.

Pathogens collections, biobanks and related-data in a One Health legal and ethical perspective.

Research on emerging infectious diseases calls for a work on collections of pathogens (including hosts or vectors from which the pathogens were isolated), related to human and animal health, to wildlife or on the environmental material. In this respect, the adoption of a One Health perspective is determined by the need for a common approach to consider the collection, storage and use of pathogens coming from human or non-human sources, and particularly when the same pathogen is taken from different environments. In response to this development, our purpose is to delineate a flexible regulation framework concerning collections of pathogens from various origins or hosts and their associated data in order to facilitate scientific work and research partnerships. The legal and ethical cutting-edge research on Biomedical Big Data is particularly stimulating when it comes to address challenges related to collections or biobanks of pathogens such as prior informed consent and accessibility, Material Transfer Agreement or benefit sharing.

From a variety of ethics to the integrity and congruence of research on biodiversity conservation.

This article aims to find the elements that are required for a common ethical approach that is suitable for the different perspectives adopted in integrative biodiversity conservation research. A general reflection on the integrity of research is a priority worldwide, with a common aim to promote good research practice. Beyond the relationship between researcher and research subject, the integrity of research is considered in a broader perspective which entails scientific integrity towards society. In research involving a variety of disciplines and a diversity of legal and ethical frameworks, there is a need of harmony between different sets of values. The notion of congruence (or more pragmatically, alignment) reflects the consistency of ethics in research within the biodiversity conservation's community of researchers. It also bears on the coherence of values shared between the scientific community and society. We examine the notion of research integrity in a broad sense. This examination is to be conducted in relation to the goal of protecting ecological integrity, which is at the core of biodiversity conservation. The notion of integrity constraints should be investigated further to develop a pragmatic response to the need for integrity and congruence in research for biodiversity conservation.

Biodiversity and health: Lessons and recommendations from an interdisciplinary conference to advise Southeast Asian research, society and policy.

Southeast Asia is an economic, biodiverse, cultural and disease hotspot. Due to rapid socio-economic and environmental changes, the role of biodiversity and ecosystems for human health ought to be examined and communicated to decision-makers and the public. We therefore summarized the lessons and recommendations from an interdisciplinary conference convened in Cambodia in 2014 to advise Southeast Asian societies on current research efforts, future research needs, and to provide suggestions for improved education, training and science-policy interactions. First, we reviewed several examples of the important role of ecosystems as 'sentinels' in the sense that potentially harmful developments for human health become first apparent in ecosystem components. Other ecosystem services which also benefit human well-being are briefly summarized. Second, we summarized the recommendations of the conference's roundtable discussions and added recent developments in the science-policy interface. The recommendations were organized along five themes: Ethical and legal considerations; implementation of the One Health approach; education, training, and capacity building; future research priorities; and potential science-policy interactions. While the role of biodiversity for human health needs further research, especially for zoonoses and emerging diseases, many direct and indirect benefits to human health are already apparent, but have yet to filter down to the science-policy interface in order to influence legislation and enforcement. Therefore, efforts to strengthen the interface in Southeast Asia should become a high priority in order to strengthen the health and resilience of Southeast Asian societies.

A framework to promote collective action within the One Health community of practice: Using participatory modelling to enable interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral and multi-level integration.

As Southeast Asia (SEA) is characterized by high human and domestic animal densities, growing intensification of trade, drastic land use changes and biodiversity erosion, this region appears to be a hotspot to study complex dynamics of zoonoses emergence and health issues at the Animal-Human-Environment interface. Zoonotic diseases and environmental health issues can have devastating socioeconomic and wellbeing impacts. Assessing and managing the related risks implies to take into account ecological and social dynamics at play, in link with epidemiological patterns. The implementation of a One Health (OH) approach in this context calls for improved integration among disciplines and improved cross-sectoral collaboration, involving stakeholders at different levels. For sure, such integration is not achieved spontaneously, implies methodological guidelines and has transaction costs. We explore pathways for implementing such collaboration in SEA context, highlighting the main challenges to be faced by researchers and other target groups involved in OH actions. On this basis, we propose a conceptual framework of OH integration. Throughout 3 components (field-based data management, professional training workshops and higher education), we suggest to develop a new culture of networking involving actors from various disciplines, sectors and levels (from the municipality to the Ministries) through a participatory modelling process, fostering synergies and cooperation. This framework could stimulate long-term dialogue process, based on the combination of case studies implementation and capacity building. It aims for implementing both institutional OH dynamics (multi-stakeholders and cross-sectoral) and research approaches promoting systems thinking and involving social sciences to follow-up and strengthen collective action.