Health experts from around the world met on September 29, 2004 for a symposium focused on the current and potential movements of diseases among human, domestic animal, and wildlife populations organized by the Wildlife Conservation Society and hosted by The Rockefeller University in New York City. The symposium called “One World, One Health: Building Interdisciplinary Bridges to Health in a Globalized World”.
The symposium set 12 priorities to combat health threats to human and animal health. These priorities, known as the “Manhattan Principles,” called for an international, interdisciplinary approach to prevent disease and formed the basis of the “One Health, One World™” concept.
Recent outbreaks of West Nile Virus, Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever, SARS, Monkeypox, Mad Cow Disease and Avian Influenza remind us that human and animal health are intimately connected.
A broader understanding of health and disease demands a unity of approach achievable only through a consilience of human, domestic animal and wildlife health – One Health.
We are in an era of “One World, One Health” and we must devise adaptive, forward-looking and multidisciplinary solutions to the challenges that undoubtedly lie ahead.