Beth Feingold, PhD, MPH, MESc, is the Pim Postdoctoral
Fellow in Global Change in the Earth and Planetary Sciences Department at The
Johns Hopkins University. She is interested in geography and health,
particularly the impact of industrial food animal production, climate, land use
change and city planning on public health. Her One Health talk focused on
public health issues related to industrial food animal production.
Dr. Feingold wanted us to take home 3 messages from her
talk: 1) Industrial food animal production poses a number of threats to public
health in the forms of air pollution, water pollution, environmental justice
issues, emerging pathogens, and antibiotic resistant bacteria, 2) There are
many challenges to quantifying the nature and magnitude of these effects, and
to balancing risks, and 3) A One Health approach could help mitigate
environmental, veterinary and human health risks posed by the food animal production
system.
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| Dr. Beth Feingold explains the One Health challenges associated with industrial food animal production. |
She began her talk by the defining Animal Feeding Operations
(AFO) and providing a historical basis for modern industrial food animal
production. In the past few decades, AFOs in the United States have become
concentrated into fewer, large-scale operations. These farming operations face
challenges such as wide-scale antibiotic use to preserve animal health and
animal waste management. AFOs are connected with their surrounding communities
and have substantial impacts on environmental and public health. Air and water
pollution affect the people throughout a region; documented health effects
include respiratory symptoms, headaches, anxiety, depression, sleep problems,
decreased quality of life, and bacterial infection. These issues are compounded
when natural disasters cause the flooding of animal waste processing sites,
polluting the water and spreading pathogens across a region. Farm workers, in
particular, are exposed to pathogens through multiple pathways on a regular
basis.
According to Dr. Feingold, there are 3 main challenges that
we currently face. First, it is difficult to characterize the cumulative effect
of chemical, microbial, social, and economic stressors in diverse populations.
Second, the food animal production industry is difficult to penetrate for
scientists, and the externalities of production place a disproportionate burden
on rural communities. Third, institutional and political barriers make it
difficult to monitor industry externalities and ensure accountability.
William K. Pan, PhD, MPH, is the Assistant Professor of
Global Environmental Health in the Nicholas School of Environment at Duke
University, an Affiliate with the Duke Global Health Institute, and an
Associate at the Duke Population Research Institute. Dr. Pan is interested in
expanding the scope of One Health to include more disciplinary lenses,
especially to fields outside of human and veterinary medicine. His One Health
talk focused on diarrheal disease as a leading cause of death in children, risk
factors of diarrhea, and a comprehensive approach to prevention and control.
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| Dr. William Pan contends that a One Health approach to diarrheal disease in children should also take into account perspectives of city planners, demographers, and veterinarians. |
Dr. Pan began his talk by outlining the etiology of
diarrheal disease in young children. He presented a model of diarrhea,
malnutrition, and enteric infection that showed how diarrhea and malnutrition
led to a vicious cycle that increased susceptibility to opportunistic
infections. There are a variety of causes of diarrhea and infectious agents of
diarrhea include many strains of bacteria, viruses, parasitic protozoa, and
parasitic worms. A systematic review showed that ETEC and V. cholerae O1/O139
were the leading cause of hospitalizations, while Salmonella, Shigella, and E.
histolytica were the most frequently isolated pathogens in outpatient settings.
There are multiple paths to pathogen exposure, such as poor sanitation and
water quality, hygiene, food preparation, flooding, animal husbandry, and
animal vectors. However, Dr. Pan is concerned that underlying determinants such
as birth rates, population density, and the built environment are routinely
ignored. He brought up a story to accompany a photograph he took on one of his
research trips to South America. In a boat, we could see a mother nursing an
infant, along with 5 more young children. Dr. Pan pointed out that cultural
preferences (or necessities) for high birth rates and large families are a
barrier to diarrheal disease control. He proposed that the WHO enteric disease
prevention plan would benefit from a One Health approach that adds perspectives
from city planners, demographers, and veterinarians.
Post authored by Patrick Yao Tang MPH candidate 2012, Department
of Health Behavior and Health Education, Gillings School of Global Public
Health, UNC Chapel Hill
Up Next (27 March 2012):
Emergence of a zoonotic tropical disease in
the United States: visceral leishmaniasis
Christine Petersen, DVM, PhD, Assistant
Professor of Veterinary Pathology at Iowa State University College of Veterinary Medicine
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