One Health: Zoonotic Diseases & Transmission

One Health

• Recognizes the interconnectedness of domestic animal, human, and environmental health.
• Increasingly recognized as important due to emerging global issues.

Zoonotic Diseases

• These are examples of One Health initiatives since they involve the transfer of diseases between animals and humans.
• Can be caused by viruses, bacteria, prions, parasites, and fungi.
• Avian influenza is an example.

Disease Transmission

• Direct contact occurs through touching an infected animal.
• Indirect contact involves contact with blood, feces, urine, or saliva from an infected animal.
• Vectors transmit infections from infected to uninfected individuals, such as mosquitoes.

Agent-Host-Environment Epidemiological Triangle

• Host carries disease.
• Agent causes disease.
• Environment foments to incite disease

Avian Influenza

• Bird flu is caused by a virus, with all subtypes primarily adapted to bird species.
• Pigs act as intermediate hosts in wildlife connections.

Poultry Connections

• Outbreaks increase with higher human population density, vegetation productivity, and lower elevation.

Avian Flu Management

• Utilizing PPE (personal protective equipment)
• Masks
• Vaccinations
• Limiting contact

One Health II: Career Opportunities

• Environmental Health
• Ecology
• Public Health

Emerging Infectious Diseases

• Include re-emerging diseases as well as diseases with new strains and antibiotic resistance.

Pathogens

• Consist of infectious microorganisms such as viruses, bacteria, and prions.

Human to Dog Diseases

• Examples include Toxocara and Giardia.

Mitigation Options

• PPE
• Vaccinations
• Safety education
• Dewormer
• Population control

Climate Science: Key Points for Climate Change

• The overarching themes are: 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, such as decades and centuries.
• Weather is measured over short periods, such as days and weeks.

Climate Change Definition

• Statistically significant change in long-term weather patterns.

Causes of Climate Change

• Internal Forcing Mechanisms (natural changes) such as ocean variability and biological activity
• External Forcing Mechanisms like solar output, Earth's magnetic field strength, volcanic eruptions, and human influences.

Detecting/Measuring Climate Change:

• Observing glaciers, consulting indigenous people, analyzing soil profiles, and studying tree rings.

Anthropogenic Global Warming

• Climate change directly caused by human activity, began in the late 19th century.

Hockey Stick Graph

• Be able to label the graph and understand its implications.

Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)

• Methane
• Nitrous oxide
• Carbon dioxide
• CFC’s

Additional Notes

• Climate extremes will impose the biggest cost.
• 97% of scientists agree that climate change is real.

Climate Change on the Farm: Livestock

• Livestock production contributes to climate change, and changes in climate have impacted livestock.
• Feed production is the largest contributor.

Mitigation Strategies

• Include manure storage/removal, increased productivity, high-efficiency feed, and different species.

Climate Change Impacts on Livestock Production

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

Adapting to Climate Change

• Key to identify breeds with inherent genetic capabilities.

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

• Federal government commitment to preventing wildlife extinction and ensuring recovery, with legal protection for wildlife species.

S.A.R.A.: Key Tools

• Official recognition, habitat protection, and safety net.
• S.A.R.A maintains a list of all plants and animals federally recognized as special concern, threatened, endangered, exterpated, and extinct in Canada

C.O.S.E.W.I.C

• A committee on the status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
• Assesses the national status of species considered at risk in Canada.

Definitions and Examples

• Extinct :No longer exists on earth, example is the Dodo Bird
• Extirpated: No longer existing in the wild, but occuring elsewhere and has chance of recovery, example is the Black-footed Ferret
• Endangered: Species facing imminent exterpation or extinction. example is the Save Grouse
• Threatened; Species likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed.

Species

• Special Concern species may become threatened/endangered because of a combination of biological characteristics and identified threats. Example: Polar Bears
• Not at Risk: Wildlife species that has evaluated and found to be not at risk of extinction given current circumstances. Example: Elk, Deer
• Data Deficient: Information is insufficient to assess or permit assessment of extinction risk.

Threats to Species at Risk

• Habitat Loss (#1 Cause: Agriculture)
• Introduced Species
• Over-exploitation
• Pollution
• Natural Disasters

Operation Burrowing Owl

• A conservation attempt in 1987.
• Successful case study through education, habitat enhancement, and conservation easements.

Mitigation Options

• Conservation easements, education, legislation (S.A.R.A.), recovering land, and modifying practices.

Invasive Species & Agriculture: Exotic/Introduced Species

• An introduction occurs when a species lives outside of its native distributional range, arriving deliberately or accidentally by human activity.
• Can be damaging, beneficial, or neither to both humans and ecosystems.

Invasive Species

• Exotic species that do or are likely to cause harm to economical, environmental, or human systems.
• Second greatest threat to biodiversity.
• Example: Leafy Spurge.

Invasive Species Impact

• Agricultural costs are around 2.2 billion/year.
• They spread disease, destroy crops/buildings, compete with native species, destroy pasture land, and harm livestock.

Tens Rule

• 1/10 alien species will become established as free-living populations, and 1/10 of those will become invasive (1/100).
• This is a rough estimate.

Risk Assessment

• The process of quantitatively and qualitatively determining risk related to a specific threat.
• Risk = (magnitude of potential loss) * (probability)

Risk Management

• Prevention
• Early detection (very critical)
• Rapid response
• Contain and control
• Review and report

Invasive Species Mitigation

• Risk assessments, early detection, quick response, pesticides, and herbicides.

Ecosystem Services

• The good things that nature does.

Types of Ecosystem Services

• Supporting services are necessary for the production of all other ecosystem services. Example: water, air
• Provisioning services: Products obtained from ecosystems. Example: lumber, food
• Regulating services: Benefits obtained from regulating ecosystem processes. Example: ocean absorbs CO2
• Cultural services: Non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems. Example: outdoor exercising, spiritual connections

Payments for Ecosystem Services

• Incentives provided to livestock producers to provide an ecological benefit, promoting ecosystem conservation.

Conservation Reserve Program (C.R.P.)

• The world's largest and longest-running PES (Payments for Ecosystem Services) program, originally aimed at preventing erosion, began in the 1950's.

Alternative Land Use Services (ALUS)

• Pays farmers to retain and reconstruct natural areas, funded by provincial & federal governments with principles focused on being community-developed, farmer-delivered, targeted, market-driven, voluntary, integrated, accountable, and science-based.

Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC)

• Is a leading non-profit private land conservation.

Fee Simple

• Land that NCC owns, where land management becomes NCC's responsibility.

Conservation Easements

• Landowner voluntarily gives up certain development rights or opportunities on all or part of the land, ensuring long-term protection of the conservation values, through legal agreement

NCC focus

• Natural Area Conservation Plans
• Open Standards for Conservation
• Each fee simple property has a Property Management Plan (PMP).

PMP

• Identifies conservation goals and how to achieve those goals, renewed every 5 years.

Livestock Mitigation Strategies

• Increase productivity.
• Genetic Selection

Impact of Livestock on Climate Change

• Land Degradation
• Deforestation