“One Health” is a fairly new initiative that integrates human health, animal health, and environmental health. Through this initiative, the world will be viewed as a network of of all the Earth’s organisms in which we can learn from the creatures around us. Dr. Natterson-Horowitz explains the importance of “One Health” in order to understand our own beings as humans. More and more diseases are being discovered as zoonotic, meaning that they can be passed between animals and humans. For decades there has been a disconnect between human and animal health causing independent studies of the same disease. This lack of communication caused incomplete studies of the same diseases. For example, Mad Cow Disease was first identified by the neurological symptoms experienced by cows in Great Britain. It was not until the doctors treating human patients with this disease looked beyond humans and into the animal world to discover that the disease was in fact previously noticed in animals. This led to the ability for the government to effectively protect the people and prevent the further spread of the disease. By using animal and human models to understand diseases our societies face, we as humans can develop better treatments and courses of action. In “Zoobiquity”, the author highlights the necessity of the connection between human and animal medicine in order to advance our medical field. As Dr. Natterson-Horowitz states herself, “Because the fate of our world’s health doesn’t depend solely on how we humans fare. Rather, it will be determined by how all the patients on the planet live, grow, get sick, and heal.”
