B6252 - La salute unica all'interfaccia esseri umani/animali/ambiente

Learning outcomes

Learning skills Students will learn that health is a precondition, an outcome and an indicator of sustainable development. The course will provide basic knowledge on the main health issues at the human/animal/environment interfaces and will aim to provide an understanding of the need for an integrated, cross-sectoral approach to achieving the SDGs of the 2030 Agenda.

Course contents

Lecture 1.The connections between humans, animals and the environment require collaboration across sectors to understand and reduce risks and consequences to health and welfare. The One Health approach offers opportunities for synergistic expertise to address complex health threats to people, animals and the environment and highlights the need for specialists in multiple sectors. Global health challenges transcend national, European and international boundaries and require a cross-sectoral approach. For this reason, international organisations have come together to launch the One Health approach to improve understanding of how diseases potentially capable of triggering pandemics emerge and spread. As an example, the FAO-OIE-WHO-UNEP quadripartite collaboration will be illustrated.

Lecture 2.About 60% of all known human infectious agents (e.g. rabies, brucellosis, leptospirosis) originate in animals. Ebola, highly pathogenic avian influenza, SARS, MERS and COVID-19 are the most recent examples of new or emerging infectious diseases in humans caused by zoonotic pathogens. Risk factors and spillover concepts will be explained through case studies.

Lecture 3.The rate of spread of emerging diseases is accelerating as a by-product of the growth of global trade and travel. The growth of trade with emerging markets and developing economies has increased the likelihood of reinfection from existing animal reservoirs. Recent research suggests that as wildlife moves along the supply chain, from capture sites to large markets to restaurants, the possibility of spill-over is amplified. Prevention of future pandemics requires a multi-sectoral approach to take measures to reduce the risk of spill-over. Practical examples will be used to explain the principles of risk assessment

Lecture 4.In the Anthropocene, human interaction with nature and animals has changed considerably. This has been brought about by the domestication of animals, the expansion of agriculture into natural ecosystems, urbanisation and the industrialisation of food systems. The species and number of animals in the urban environment and human-animal relationships have changed. In the Western world, especially in the urban environment, people tend to be more detached from so-called farm animals and have developed closer bonds with companion animals. At the same time, in many countries of the global South, people and animals, whether domestic or wild, also live in close contact in urban centres (e.g. open-air markets, wild animals kept in sacred or stray temples). The recent pandemic of COVID-19 and monkeypox are the result of complex interactions in the socio-ecological systems of our time.

Readings/Bibliography

Links to readings and slides will be provided and will be available as repository material on https://virtuale.unibo.it/

Teaching methods

in presence lectures sof use of flipped classroom methodology

Assessment methods

Final writtenl report on a case study

Teaching tools

Power point presentations, videos, online resources

 

Office hours

See the website of Alessandra Scagliarini