Fight against pathogens
COVID-19, SARS, Ebola virus disease, monkey pox… these are just some of the pathogens transmitted from animals to humans, known as zoonoses, that are mobilizing health authorities worldwide. This is not a new phenomenon: for decades, scientists have been sounding the alarm that civilization’s encroachment on wilderness areas is reducing natural barriers, thereby increasing the risk of zoonoses emerging. Scientists estimate that more than six out of ten known infectious diseases in humans are of animal origin, and three out of four new or emerging infectious diseases originate from animals.
However, the global pandemic of COVID-19 has demonstrated the power of scientific research, and genomics in particular, to tackle emerging pathogens. Genomics enables us to understand how pathogens spread, to develop rapid and affordable targeted diagnostic tests, to identify new therapeutic molecules and to develop and market vaccines. In addition, genomic data enable us to monitor the evolution of diseases and the emergence of their variants on a global scale.
The risk of epidemics caused by emerging pathogens will continue to be high. To reduce our vulnerability, the One Health approach is particularly relevant in the fields of food safety, the fight against “zoonoses” and antimicrobial resistance. This approach is trans-sectoral: in other words, it enables us to study the transmission of pathogens and their impacts between animals, humans and the environment. It can be applied to the design and implementation of pathogen surveillance programs in the wastewater of major metropolises, to the development of screening policies in agricultural settings, to the establishment of reporting registers in hospitals, as well as to the development of research in which teams of scientists from different disciplinary fields collaborate to improve health outcomes for all living things.
References:
Morens, D., Breman, J., Calisher, C., Doherty, P., Hahn, B., Keusch, G., … . Taubenberger, J. (2020). The Origin of COVID-19 and Why It Matters. Am J Trop Med Hyg, 103(3), pp. 955-959.
Saravanan, K. A., Panigrahi, M., Kumar, H., Rajawat, D., Nayak, S., Bhushan, B., & Dutt, T. (2022). Role of genomics in combating COVID-19 pandemic. Gene, 823, 146387.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2022). Zoonotic Diseases. Web site consulted March 30, 2022: https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/basics/zoonotic-diseases.html
Antimicrobial resistance
Antimicrobials are drugs used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants. They kill or slow the growth of microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. Antimicrobials include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics.
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microorganisms change over time and no longer respond to treatment, making infections more difficult to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, serious illness and even death. Antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms are sometimes referred to in the media as “super bacteria”.
In Canada, antimicrobial resistance now accounts for 26% of hospital-acquired bacterial infections. This prevalence could well increase over the next few years. This represents a real burden for the healthcare system. Internationally, it has become one of the top 10 threats to public health, with over 700,000 deaths in 2019, a projected 10 million deaths per year by 2050, and costs reaching 10 trillion US dollars. What’s more, in the context of climate change, a one-degree rise in temperature can increase the resistance of certain microorganisms by a factor of 10, and promote the migration of resistant pathogens from warmer to colder regions.
Genomics can play a central role in understanding and countering antimicrobial resistance, notably through the development of diagnostic tools, surveillance and prevention measures, and the discovery of new treatments.
References
Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborators (2022). Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis. Lancet, 399(10325), pp. 629-655.
Bailey, D., Kougioumoutzi, E. & Anholt, M. (2021). UK – Canada One Health Workshop on Antimicrobial Resistance in Agriculture and the Environment.
Council of Canadian Academies (2019). When antibiotics fail. Ottawa (ON): Expert Panel on the Potential Socio-Economic Impact of Antimicrobial Resistance in Canada, Council of Canadian Academies.
World Health Organization. (2020). Antimicrobial Resistance.