A One Health Approach to Wildlife and Food Safety

Arens, Amanda; Scott, Cheryl; Osburn, Bennie

Global health problems including the assurance of safe and secure food are becoming more numerous and complex and require sensitive and transdisciplinary problem solving efforts. One Health provides the framework to approach food safety risks from the whole ecosystem of the food system by using a Web of Causation approach instead of an ‘us vs. them’ approach. This whole ecosystem, One Health approach focuses on prevention through the integration of wildlife, environmental, human, and domestic health sectors improving our ability to prevent rather than react to disease events. A true One Health viewpoint understands that all life is connected to its habitat, and the health of the whole sits squarely on a robust and sustainable environment. Safe food and water, thus ecological health, can be ensured using an evidence-based, transdisciplinary, collaborative based approach to the solution of food production and public health.