1. 212 GRF Davos Planet@Risk, Vol 2, No 4 (2014): Special Issue on One Health (Part II/II)
One Health- the WSPA Approa¹
ABSON, Frances 𝑎
, BALASKAS, Margaret 𝑎
, CLARK, Michelle 𝑎
FASSINA, Nicol 𝑎
and KENNEDY, Mark 𝑎
𝑎
World Society for the Protection of Animals, London, United Kingdom, email:markkennedy@wspa-international.org
Abstract – e One Health principle holds that human health is closely linked to animal health and
welfare. Consequently, the development of integrated responses to global public health challenges
is required. WSPA believes that global adherence to animal welfare principles will be instrumental
in preventing emerging infectious diseases, including zoonotic diseases, from occurring, and thus
help stop these diseases inflicting serious resource strains on national and international health ser-
vices. We work with governments, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organisations and
communities to ensure positive solutions are put in place for animals and people alike. ese solu-
tions include; working to control the transmission of canine rabies to people through sustainable
mass dog vaccination programmes; preparing communities for disasters so that both their own
and their animals’ welfare is protected; and addressing the role that beer welfare standards for
wildlife play in the spread of zoonotic diseases.
Keywords – Animal Welfare, Animal Health, Human Health, Rabies, Disaster Preparedness, Wildlife
Trade
1. Introduction
e World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA)
has nearly 50 years’ experience in working with animals
and communities. We work with communities, govern-
ments, intergovernmental and nongovernmental organi-
sations to ensure that needs are addressed with positive
solutions for animals and people alike; our focus is on
collective action. ere is rarely such a thing as a sin-
gle solution to a single issue in any field and health is
no exception. Human health is closely linked to animal
health and welfare, and as a consequence, integrated re-
sponses to global public health challenges are required.
For WSPA, these include; working to control the transmis-
sion of canine rabies to people through sustainable mass
dog vaccination programmes, preparing communities for
disasters so that their welfare and that of their animals is
protected, and addressing the role of beer welfare stan-
dards for wildlife in the spread of zoonotic diseases. is
paper aims to demonstrate how improvements in animal
welfare globally have a positive impact on a range of hu-
man health and environmental issues.
2. Rabies
roughout history rabies has been one of the most
feared diseases, having the highest human case-fatality
rate of any infectious disease (Rupprecht, Hanlon, &
Hemachudha, 2002; World Health Organisation, 2013). In
developing countries, someone dies of rabies every ten
minutes, thus every day 150 people die of rabies, 55,000
every year, and annually 7 million people receive expen-
sive post-exposure prophylaxis (Hampson, et al., 2009).
In more than 99% of all cases of human rabies, the virus
is transmied via dogs (World Health Organisation, 2013).
Mass dog culls are widely used in a misguided effort to
stop the spread of rabies, yet there is no evidence that re-
moval of dogs has a significant impact on dog population
density or the spread of rabies (World Health Organisa-
tion, 2013). e World Health Organisation (2013) state
that mass culling of dogs is ineffective and can be coun-
terproductive to vaccination programmes and should not
be an element of a rabies control strategy, whereas mass
dog vaccination has repeatedly been shown to be effective
in controlling canine rabies.
WSPA’s vision is of a world where dogs are no longer
needlessly killed in response to the fear of rabies. Mass
dog vaccination as part of a wider ‘One Health’ approach
can help save human lives as well as protecting animals
¹is article is based on a presentation given during the 2nd GRF Davos One Health Summit 2013, held 17-20 November 2013 in Davos, Switzerland
(http://onehealth.grforum.org/home/)

2. GRF Davos Planet@Risk, Vol 2, No 4 (2014): Special Issue on One Health (Part II/II) 213
and saving money. Vaccinating at least 70% of dogs in
an area creates ‘herd immunity’ (Coleman & Dye, 1996;
World Health Organisation, 2013). e vaccinated dogs
form a barrier, slowing the spread of rabies until it dies
out. By removing the main source of infection, rabies
cases in dogs and other animal populations can be elimi-
nated and human rabies deaths can be vastly reduced.
e concept of One Health encourages multiple disci-
plines to work together to achieve the best possible health
for people, animals and the environment (American Vet-
erinary Medical Association, 2014). To apply this concept
to rabies control, it is essential to acknowledge that ad-
dressing animal health, through humane dog vaccination,
is key to an effective rabies response, and there needs to
be strong political will and appropriate public health sup-
port (such as advocacy, post-exposure prophylaxis, ed-
ucation, diagnostic and surveillance facilities) in place.
Our global work with our partners demonstrates the One
Health concept in action. In compliance with a resolu-
tion adopted by the South Asian Association for Regional
Cooperation and the Association of Southeast Asian Na-
tions, Bangladesh adopted an ambitious target to elimi-
nate rabies by 2020. In 2011 WSPA and the government
of Bangladesh worked together to vaccinate over 70% of
the dog population in the southern beach resort of Cox’s
Bazar against rabies. In 2012 WSPA supported a govern-
ment workshop developing a coordinated national action
plan against rabies, which involves conducting a mass
dog vaccination programme alongside more effective de-
livery of post-exposure prohylaxis, community advocacy
and communication, monitoring and surveillance. Cru-
cially, several key government ministries were involved
(health, livestock and local government) as well as aca-
demics and representatives from international organisa-
tions including the World Health Organization and the
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Rabies was reintroduced to the East African island of
Zanzibar in 1991. Over the last four years WSPA and
the government have been implementing a project to es-
tablish sustainable humane dog population management.
Following on from this, the Zanzibar government are de-
veloping infrastructure and seeking the assistance of sup-
porting agencies to increase deployment of vaccination
programmes to help eliminate rabies from the area. It
is worth noting that although reducing the density of
dogs is not critical for effective rabies control, there are
many benefits in humane dog population management.
Combining humane dog population management and re-
sponsible pet ownership programmes can help combat a
range of problems associated with roaming dogs, such
as livestock predation and injury and fear caused by ag-
gressive behaviour. WSPA are part of the International
Companion Animal Management Coalition (www.icam-
coalition.org), which draws together diverse groups
to offer consistent dog population management guidelines
for use by governments and responsible authorities.
Our other global efforts in the field of humane rabies
control include: signing a memorandum of understand-
ing with the government of Vietnam to support their ra-
bies control efforts; working with partners such as the
Global Alliance for Rabies Control (GARC) on vaccina-
tion projects in the Philippines; partnering with the Pan
American Health Organisation and GARC on educational
resources for Latin America, and participation in the first
key stakeholder consultation in review of Kenya’s ‘Na-
tional Rabies Control Strategy’ under the Kenyan govern-
ment’s ‘One Health’ banner. In 2012, we jointly signed
a cooperation agreement with the China Animal Disease
Control Centre. is landmark agreement is introduc-
ing advanced rabies prevention and control technology
to China, adapted to the local situation, with the aim of
avoiding the needless culling of dogs in the name of ra-
bies.
In conclusion, the initial success of coordinated re-
sponses to rabies in countries such as Bangladesh and
Zanzibar demonstrates the value of the One Health ap-
proach in national rabies elimination planning. It ends
the futile and uneccessary practice of dog culling and
helps protect human lives. WSPA have helped many
countries stop the inhumane culling of dogs but we want
to end it worldwide. We call on governments to stop
killing dogs and, as an effective alternative built around
the One Health approach, implement effective dog vacci-
nation programmes.
3. Community Resilience To Disasters
Livestock are owned by 70% of the world’s poor, and as
much as 80% of cash income in poor areas is derived from
livestock. People living in low-income countries also tend
to be the most vulnerable to natural disasters and the least
resilient in recovery. As many aspects of their income
and diet are derived from animals, the loss of livestock
and working animals can leave whole communities fac-
ing a significant second disaster in the form of long-term
malnutrition and food insecurity, loss of labour, loss of
income-generating opportunities and increased debt and
dependency (Campbell & Knowles, 2011). It should be
noted that livestock and those dependent upon them are
not only found in rural areas. Over 70% of the world’s
population will live in cities by 2050 (World Health Or-
ganisation, 2014). As people migrate from the rural to the
urban and peri-urban environment, they take their rural
skills and food production and companion animals with
them. We have observed multiple livelihood strategies
in the areas in which we work, families having multiple
income and nutrition sources involving food production
animals such as cows, chickens and goats. Companion
animals provide support and companionship as beloved
family pets. While animal-based livelihood practices have
largely adapted to the urban context, development pro-
gramming has not always responded by considering how
animals should be incorporated into emergency responses
and capacity building. Yet in disasters in urban areas (as
in any area) animal health related issues are of signifi-
cance due to their potential impact on livelihoods, food
security and malnutrition, and disease including zoonotic
diseases such as rabies. ere has been a historic lack
of a ‘One Health’ focus. WSPA aims to address this by
seeking innovative solutions for governments and com-

3. 214 GRF Davos Planet@Risk, Vol 2, No 4 (2014): Special Issue on One Health (Part II/II)
munities. By integrating animals into government re-
sponse and risk reduction policies and community pre-
paredness plans in a truly ‘One Health’ approach, a foun-
dation can be laid which assists people in protecting their
animals and themselves, allowing them to return to a nor-
mal life as quickly as possible following a disaster. We
achieve this through engagement and participation in lo-
cal decision-making, cultural exchange and understand-
ing. Partnership with urban and rural communities, lo-
cal and national governments, intergovernmental, non-
governmental organisations and academics is essential to
achieve success. WSPA welcomes the recent United Na-
tions General Assembly resolution (United Nations reso-
lution number A/RES/68/211) calling for stronger focus on
emergency planning that addresses disaster losses, specif-
ically, through protecting people’s livelihoods and pro-
ductive assets, including livestock and working animals,
before, during and aer a disaster.
Our work in India, Haiti and Kenya illustrates our One
Health approach. e floods which hit Assam state in In-
dia in 2012 killed thousands of animals, devastating com-
munities completely reliant on their animals for agricul-
tural outputs. Many of those animals surviving the floods
would have died shortly aerwards if support had not
been provided. WSPA worked in partnership with na-
tional government units such as the Disaster Management
Authority (DMA) and active organisations such as Sphere
India in the affected state. While providing for the basic
needs of the animals to help them survive the emergency
phase, our teams were able to work with the communities
to identify tools and techniques to strengthen future re-
silience. We helped build a feed storage tower to keep an-
imal feed safe from risk of further flooding later in the sea-
son, provided training for effective animal welfare man-
agement, and assisted design of a community disaster plan
which included animals as a source of human nutrition.
When the earthquake hit Haiti in 2010, WSPA estab-
lished and co-chaired an urban coalition addressing nu-
trition and public health concerns. Among other outputs,
we provided animal vaccinations and mobile veterinary
treatment clinics as the best means to reach vulnerable
populations. is provided capacity for government ef-
forts and aided their ability to control disease outbreaks.
Our assessment demonstrated that people had a very low
perception of their own risk or exposure to disaster and
lile understanding of how to handle such events. Pub-
lic service announcements through radio, TV and print
media greatly increased public awareness regarding disas-
ter preparedness as measured by our post-campaign focus
groups.
A three year drought in Kenya significantly reduced
livestock condition and immunity to disease in Mwingi, a
community largely economically dependent on livestock.
In 2011 WSPA and its partners, the Kenyan government,
the Ministry of Livestock Development and the Univer-
sity of Nairobi, intervened to provide livestock (cale,
sheep, goats and donkeys) with veterinary treatment, vac-
cination, supplementary feed and water. By reducing the
spread of disease and increasing animal health, WSPA and
its partners sustained pastoral livelihoods in East Africa.
Based on an economic analysis we commissioned on this
work in Kenya, over a one year period, the intervention
generated $2.74 of benefits in the form of avoided losses
for every $1 spent. If the time period is extended to 3 years
since the intervention, the benefit-cost ratio increases to
$6.69 in benefits for every $1 spent (Knowles, 2013).
In conclusion, using a ‘One Health’ approach to en-
sure animals are protected in disaster preparedness and
response plans provides effective and sustainable animal
and human health planning, builds urban and rural com-
munity resilience and reduces the human, animal and fi-
nancial cost of disaster.
4. Wildlife And Trade
e interface between humans and wildlife represents
a potential source of emergence and transmission of
zoonotic disease; captive exotic animal-linked zoonoses
are part of a major global emerging disease problem (War-
wick, Arena, Steedman, & Jessop, 2012). e degree of hu-
man and wildlife interaction is continually influenced by
a number of socio-economic factors including globalisa-
tion, urbanisation and demand for live wild animals such
as exotic pets. Establishing the true extent of the global
wildlife trade is nearly impossible since much is illegal or
conducted through informal networks. Worldwide, an es-
timated 640,000 reptiles, 40,000 primates, 4 million birds
and 350 million tropical fish are traded alive each year
(Karesh, Cook, Benne, & Newcomb, 2005). e global
trade in wildlife provides disease transmission opportuni-
ties that not only cause disease outbreaks in humans but
also threaten livestock, international trade, rural liveli-
hoods, native wildlife populations and the health of entire
ecosystems. e financial impacts can be catastrophic;
outbreaks resulting from wildlife trade have caused hun-
dreds of billions of dollars of economic damage glob-
ally (Karesh, Cook, Benne, & Newcomb, 2005). From
a One Health perspective, of 1,415 human pathogens,
61% are known to be zoonotic (Karesh, Cook, Benne,
& Newcomb, 2005), and 75% of all emerging diseases af-
fecting people over the last two decades are zoonotic
(Brown, 2004). In fact, the incidence of zoonotic dis-
ease in humans may not be fully recognised as zoonotic
disease may be misdiagnosed as other conditions (War-
wick, Arena, Steedman, & Jessop, 2012) as established
sources of zoonotic infection such as pet shops, exotic
and domestic pets, and zoos and other wildlife centres
are only infrequently considered as sources of infection
by GPs. us their pathological significance may be over-
looked (Warwick, 2004). Wildlife markets present an es-
pecially high risk to public health for several reasons. A
large number and variety of species are held in close-
confinement resulting in stress for the animals, increas-
ing susceptibility to pathogens, and opportunity for shed-
ding, mixing and dissemination of pathogens. Public con-
tact with animals of uncertain origin and health results
in significant risk (Warwick, Arena, Steedman, & Jessop,
2012). ere is a potential link between poor animal wel-
fare and increased potential for zoonotic disease trans-
mission, clearly relevant to the One Health concept. It

4. GRF Davos Planet@Risk, Vol 2, No 4 (2014): Special Issue on One Health (Part II/II) 215
is a well-accepted pheomenon that animals experiencing
poor welfare (Broom & Fraser, 2007) and stress (Moberg,
2000) are more suspectible to disease. Capture, restraint
and the captive environment are significant sources of
stress for a range of wild species (Tolosa & Regassa, 2007;
Wikelski & Cooke, 2006; Romero & Reed, 2005; Gregory,
Gross, Bolten, Bjorndal, & Guilee, 1996). It is there-
fore reasonable to assume that traded wild animals sub-
ject to such procedures experience stress and poor wel-
fare and are prone to developing disease. Furthermore, in-
creased exposure to stress, particularly but not exclusively
during transport, increases shedding of pathogens in a
range of domestic species (Transport- Southern, Rasekh,
Hemphill, & aler, 2006; Hartung, 2003; Barham, et al.,
2002; Social Stress- Callaway, et al., 2006; Nakamura, et
al., 1993). It seems reasonable to infer that environmental
pathogen burden will be higher when there are large num-
bers of recently-transported, stressed wild animals shar-
ing the same environment and air space, as is the case
in wildlife markets, pet shops, and wildlife farming op-
erations. e close proximity of such animals to dealers,
handlers and the general public presents clear opportunity
for the transmission of infection from animals to humans.
A practical approach to reducing human exposure to po-
tentially zoonotic pathogens includes reducing the rate of
contact between species, including humans, at the inter-
faces created by the wildlife trade. Ultimately, the only
way to completely erase the hazards described and guar-
antee the welfare of the animals at risk would be cessa-
tion of the wildlife trade. Since wildlife trade functions as
a system of networks with major transit hubs, these hubs
provide opportunities to maximize the effects of regula-
tory and enforcement efforts. Effective solutions will only
come through a trans-disciplinary ‘One Health’ approach
to this problem.
5. Conclusion
WSPA strongly supports the ‘One Health´ concept. As
demonstrated in each of the three areas of focus reviewed
above, animal health and welfare and human health and
welfare are closely interlinked. WSPA will continue to
work directly with governments, intergovernmental or-
ganisations, non-governmental organisations, local com-
munities and industry to demonstrate how improvements
in animal welfare globally will have a positive impact on
a range of human health and environmental issues.
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Citation
Abson, F.; Balaskas, M.; Clark, M.; Fassina, N.; Kennedy, M.
(2014): One Health- the WSPA Approach. In: Planet@Risk, 2(4),
Special Issue on One Health: 212-216, Davos: Global Risk Forum
GRF Davos.