One Health and Zoonotic Diseases

One Health

• Health of domestic animals connects to the health of humans and the environment
• Increasingly recognized due to emerging global issues

Zoonotic Diseases

• Example of one health; diseases transferrable between humans and other animals
• Caused by: viruses, bacteria, prions, parasites, fungi
• Avian influenza is an example

Disease Transmission

• Direct transmission occurs through touching an infected animal
• Indirect transmission is through contact with blood, feces, urine, or saliva from an infected animal
• Vector transmission involves infected entities such as mosquitoes carrying pathogens to uninfected individuals

Agent-Host-Environment Epidemiological Triangle

• Host carries diseases
• Agent causes disease
• Environment can incite/store disease

Avian Influenza

• Bird flu is caused by a virus
• All subtypes primarily adapted to bird species
• Wildlife connections: pigs can be intermediate hosts

Poultry Connections

• Higher human population density is associated with increased poultry connections
• Increased vegetation productivity and lower elevation leads to increased outbreaks

Avian Flu Management

• PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) helps to manage the spread
• Masks are needed
• Vaccines are useful
• Limit contact to manage effectively

One Health Career Opportunities

• Provides career boost for environmental health
• Can improve work in ecology
• Opportunities in public health

Emerging Infectious Diseases

• Re-emerging of infectious diseases happens often
• Same disease, new strand cases are common
• Antibiotic resistance from disease occurs

Pathogens

• Infectious micro-organisms like viruses, bacterium, or prions

Human to Dog Diseases

• Toxocara is transferable
• Giardia is transferable

Mitigation Options

• PPE can help
• Vaccinations are needed
• Dewormer is useful
• Population control is a solution
• Safety education plays a part

Climate Science Key Points

• Key points: it is warming, it is us, we are sure, it is bad, we can fix it

Weather vs. Climate

• Climate is measured over long periods like decades and centuries
• Weather is measured over short periods: days and weeks

What is Climate Change?

• Statistically significant change in long-term weather patterns over time

Causes of Climate Change

• Internal forcing mechanisms (natural changes) like ocean variability and biological activity
• External forcing mechanisms include solar output, Earth's magnetic field strength, volcanic eruptions, and human influences

Measuring Climate Change

• Glaciers are one way to measure climate change
• Indigenous people can identify change
• Soil profiles are helpful
• Tree rings can gauge changes

Anthropogenic Global Warming

• Climate change directly caused by human activity
• Began in the late 19th century

Hockey Stick Graph

• Graphs depict drastic changes at the same time as increased human activity
• Baseline shows temperature (c) over years
• The industrial revolution began in 1760

Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)

• Common greenhouse gasses released: methane, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, CFC's

Notes on Climate Change

• Climate extremes have the biggest cost
• 97% of scientists agree climate change is real

Livestock & Climate Change

• Livestock production contributes
• Changes in climate have impacted livestock
• Feed production is the largest contributor

Mitigation Strategies

• Manure storage/removal can help
• High efficiency feed is preferred
• Increased productivity helps
• Different species selection can help

Climate Change Impacts on Livestock Production

• Benefits are most likely short term
• Manure storage increases N2O

Species at Risk Act (S.A.R.A)

• Federal government commitment to prevent wildlife extinction and ensure recovery
• Legal protection of wildlife species
• Key tools: official recognition, habitat protection and safety net
• S.A.R.A maintains a list of plants and animals federally recognized as special concern, threatened, endangered, exterpated, and extinct in Canada
• C.O.S.E.W.I.C is a committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada, assessing the national status of species considered at risk

Definitions and Examples of Wildlife Risk

• Extinct: A wildlife species that no longer exists on earth, like the Dodo Bird
• Extirpated: Species no longer existing in the wild, but occurring elsewhere with a chance of recovery, like the Black-footed Ferret
• Endangered: Species facing imminent exterpation or extinction, like the Sage Grouse
• Threatened: Species likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed
• Special concern: Species that may become threatened/endangered due to a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats, like the Polar Bear
• Not at Risk: Wildlife species evaluated and found to be not at risk of extinction given current circumstances, like Elk/Deer
• Data Deficient: Information is insufficient to assess or permit assessment of extinction risk

Threats to Species at Risk

• Habitat Loss: the #1 cause
• Introduced species is another threat
• Over-exploitation is a threat
• Pollution is another threat
• Natural Disasters are a hazard

Conservation

• ‘Operation Burrowing Owl’ was a conservation attempt in 1987 with successful results
• Education and habitat enhancement through conservation easements will assist

Mitigation Options

• Conservation easements are an option
• Education for communities that will be affected
• Legislation (S.A.R.A) could mitigate results
• Recovering Land is an option
• Modifying practices is a must

Invasive Species & Agriculture

• Exotic/Introduced Species: an introduction occurs when a species lives outside of its native distributional range and arrives deliberately or accidentally via human activity, they can be helpful/harmful to environments
• Invasive Species are exotic species that do or are likely to cause harm to economical, environmental, or human systems
• Invasive Species a 2nd greatest threat to biodiversity, like Leafy Spurge

Invasive Species Impact

• Agricultural impacts can cost $2.2 Billion/year
• Spread disease
• Destroy crops/buildings
• Compete with native species
• Destroy pasture land
• Harm livestock

"Tens-Rule"

• 1/10 alien species will establish themselves as free-living populations
• 1/10 of 1/10 will become invasive (1/100)
• All of this data is a rough estimate

Risk Assessment

• Quantitatively/qualitatively determine risk related to a specific threat
• RISK = (magnitude of potential loss) * (probability)

Risk Management

• Prevention is the first logical objective
• Early detection is very critical
• Rapid response is necessary
• Contain and control is required
• Continuous reviews and reports

Invasive Species Mitigation

• Risk assessments are needed
• Early detection is required
• Quick response is needed
• Pesticides can help
• Herbicides are used

Ecosystem Services

• The good things that nature does

Types of Ecosystem Services

• Supporting services: necessary for production of all other ecosystem services (ex. water, air)
• Provisioning services: products obtained from ecosystems (ex. lumber, food)
• Regulating services: benefits obtained from regulating ecosystem processes (ex. ocean absorbs CO2)
• Cultural services: non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems (outdoor exercising/ spiritual connections)

Payments for Ecosystem Services

• Incentives for livestock production to provide an ecological enhancement
• 'Payments to voluntary providers'
• Promotes ecosystem conservation
• Conservation Reserve Program (C.R.P) is the world's largest and longest running PES program, it originally aimed at preventing erosion in the 1950s

Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS)

• ALUS is community deveoped
• ALUS is farmer delivered
• ALUS is targeted
• ALUS is market-driven
• ALUS is voluntary
• ALUS is integrated
• ALUS is accountable
• ALUS is science-based
• ALUS pays farmers to retain/reconstruct natural areas and is funded by provincial & federal governments

Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC)

• The NCC is a leading non-profit private land conservation

Fee Simple

• Land that NCC owns, NCC has a title to and manages the land

Conservation Easements

• Landowner voluntarily relinquishes certain development rights or opportunities on all or part of the land while ensuring long-term protection of conservation values
• Legal agreements
• NCC's work: focused on natural area conservation plans and open standards for conservation
• Each fee simple property has a Property Management Plan (PMP)
• A PMP identifies conservation goals and how to achieve those goals which are reviewed every 5 years