One Health may be a new term to many when applied to veterinary science, but the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine is working to put the idea at the forefront of its work.
One Health is the integrative effort of multiple disciplines working locally, nationally and globally to attain the optimal health towardanimal, environment and human health.
Rebecca Christofferson,an associate professor in the vet school's Department of Pathological Sciences since 2015, said for many in the LSU Vet School, the concept of One Health has been second nature for years, but naming the initiative of working toward improvinghas elevated the effort of working locally, nationally and globally of attaining optimal health across the board.
"It's why when we solve one problem, we have to make sure that that Rubik's cube is not too disturbed," Christofferson said.
The One Health approach is important because historically, using Christofferson's metaphor, there were instances of disturbing the Rubik's cube.
Take, for example, cow dipswhich were often used to treat and eradicate ticks on cattle in Louisiana and other Southern states through much of the first half of the 1900s. Farmers would dig large holes in the ground and fill them with an arsenic and pesticide-filled sludge. The farmers would then guide the cows through the sludge, which killed the ticks. The problem was the arsenic sludge was left in the ground to potentially infiltrate the water table an approach that helped the health of the cows but left what became a long-term environmental hazard, which led to problems for some humans.
With One Health, researchers like Christofferson have the opportunity to take a more global approach to solving these kinds of problems. Even still, scientists are able to bring in their personalities into their approach to research.
On a personal level, Christofferson loves how her research for the vet school contributes to the overall health of the community in the same way sheloves incorporating little nods to her passion for jazz into her veterinary science work. In her work to collect mosquitoes, she sometimes makes special trips to Roselawn Memorial Park on Baton Rouge's North Street where legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans is buried. Christofferson is a big Evans fan.
Rebecca Christofferson, right, an associate professor in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine's Department of Pathological Science stands in her lab area with graduate assistant Erik Turner, who works with Christofferson in researching pathological diseases carried by mosquitos.
"A graveyard is a really good place to catch mosquitoes," Christofferson said. "And since I love jazz and Bill Evans, we sometimes catch them at his grave. It's just our way of including him in our work."
True, there's no feasible connection between jazz and mosquitoes. But in Christofferson's world, the idea of integration and connecting the dots between the environment, humans and animals, even the mosquito, work hand in hand.
Rebecca Christofferson, an associate professor in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine's Department of Pathological Science, watches an adult mosquito captured inside a trap. Christofferson applies her findings not only to animals but humans and the environment through the school's One Health initiative.
Christofferson has been an associate professor in the vet school's Department of Pathological Sciences since 2015. Her main field of study is mosquitoes and the diseases they carry. She's aided by graduate assistant Erik Turner.
Their individual field of study contributes to the overall One Health mission instituted by the school's dean, Oliver Garden.
He's the first to say the idea of One Health isn't anything new. It's common knowledge that a circle of life continually rotates among humans, animals and the environment. When one is affected, all are.
Rebecca Christofferson, an associate professor in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine's Department of Pathological Science, watches an adult mosquito captured inside a trap. Christofferson applies her findings not only to animals but humans and the environment through the school's One Health initiative.
Though the vet school primarily focused on animals in the past, Garden looks at the school's work through a different lens.
"Clearly, diseases that threaten humans involve an animal as a host and vice versa," Garden said. "We are linked, and many of the diseases that our veterinary patients suffer are very similar to those of human beings. And we at the vet school do at least as much research on human as we do veterinary health, because we regard them as inextricably linked."
Rebecca Christofferson's graduate assistant, Erik Turner, checks a mosquito trap for larvae.
Garden added, One Health is a key concept that defines 21st century living, medicine and healthy existence.
"We at LSU Vet Med embrace One Health in everything that we do, whether it's through areas of teaching, healing, discovering and protecting," Garden said.
Garden calls these areas "missions."
Graduate assistant Erik Turner, left, and associate professor Rebecca Christofferson check on a mosquito captured in a trap in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. The duo researches mosquito transmitted diseases and apply their findings not only to animals but people.
"These missions pervade everything that we do," he said. "And part of that is we're able to do human testing, as well as animal testing, including surveillance for such trans-boundary diseases as classical swine fever, African swine fever and Newcastle disease. We're also participating in the poultry health program, and we're the state diagnostic testing lab for rabies."
Garden also highlights Christofferson's work, pointing out her study of pathogens, along with how those pathogens are cultivated in the environment, have a direct impact on both human and animal health.
Rebecca Christofferson removes a mosquito trap from a shelf within her lab inside the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. This trap is designed as an attractive place for pregnant female mosquitoes to lay their eggs.
"For example, Dr. Christofferson, who does work on viruses and emergency infectious diseases, has been doing work on sarcoidosis and is instrumental now in articulating the university response to monkeypox," he said.
Of course, that doesn't have anything to do with jazz. Not officially, anyway. But for Christofferson, Evans adds something personal in her own One Health mission when she sets her mosquito traps next to his grave.
The water-filled trays provide a breeding ground for fertile females, which are the only mosquitoes that bite. Males and females who aren't pregnant actually feed off pollen.
Graduate assistant Erik Turner removes a mosquito larva from a trap set buy Associate Professor Rebecca Christofferson. The duo researches how diseases are transmitted by mosquitoes.
"Yes, they're pollinators," Christofferson said. "The females only need protein from blood when they're carrying eggs."
That's one fact she shares when taking the One Health mission into high schools and other areas of the community. She also teaches her audiences how to tell the difference between male and female mosquitoes.
"The male mosquito has fuzzy antennas," she said. "Those are just some things they're interested in, and we can use them to talk about other things we're doing."
Christofferson and Turner step into their lab to check on a mosquito trap.
Graduate assistant Erik Turner removes a mosquito larva from a trap set buy Associate Professor Rebecca Christofferson. The duo researches how diseases are transmitted by mosquitoes.
This particular trap, designed to capture adult mosquitoes, has imprisoned two male and one female, which doesn't have fuzzy antennas.
"Yeah, the males get the prettier antennas," Christofferson said, laughing. "We'll trap more and bring them into the lab to study."
And what are they looking for? Zoonotic viruses, which are viruses that infect both humans and animals.
"Most of my viruses are zoonotic," she said. "So for example, some of the viruses I'm working with right now are called bunya viruses or ortho bunya viruses, and they affect cattle as well as humans, and they're transmitted by mosquitoes."
Christofferson's work focuses on the dengue virus, including such variants as Zika and West Nile, which cause fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains for people living primarily in tropical environments.
"In Louisiana, we have the environmental factor for mosquitoes carrying this virus, so we can study these mosquitoes and how the environment interacts with the mosquitoes to transmit the virus," Christofferson said.
Through it all, Christofferson keeps her eye on how she can apply her findings to the One Health initiative.
Rebecca Christofferson, right, an associate professor in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine's Department of Pathological Science stands in her lab area with graduate assistant Erik Turner, who works with Christofferson in researching pathological diseases carried by mosquitos.
Garden is determined to do more by spreading this message through community outreach.
"We're increasingly engaging with the community through outreach programs," Garden said. "We provide key services to the community and basic veterinary needs, but in that, we'll also be educating."
Garden added that the school also is scheduling monthly community outreach programs in its library.
The LSU School of Veterinary Medicine's logo for its One Health initiative.
Garden said getting the message of One Health out using different means is important, like the culmination of the recent artist-in-residence program. He added that the school is incorporating a program for students to earn bachelor's and master's degrees in the One Health program.
In the end, the One Health initiative is a reminder of the importance of looking at the bigger picture and connecting the dots, even if the dots include a love for jazz and mosquitoes.
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One Health: LSU Vet School uses integrative approach to help people, animals and the environment - NOLA.com
