The European Union (EU) adopts the One Health (OH) approach, based on the relationships between human, animal, and environmental health. OH concerns a multitude of aspects, some of which are discussed here. OH overlaps the European Green Deal plan and its relaunched Farm to Fork Strategy, which aims at spreading organic farms adopting the circular economy, in order to improve human health through both better environmental conditions and healthier food. Nevertheless, zoonoses cause sanitary cost in terms of infected farm personnel, lower productivity, and lower fertility of infected farm animals. In such scenarios, the decreased breeding yield and the lower income induce higher cost of farm products, meaning that the market price rises, becoming uncompetitive when compared to the prices of industrial products. Consequently, lower revenues can hinder the farm growth expected in the framework of the EU Green Deal. Since zoonosis control is a key element in aligning EU policies aimed at achieving the EU Green Deal goal of “ZERO environmental impact” by 2050, the authors suggest the inclusion of the parameter economic health in the OH approach, in order to individuate EU Member States (MSs) economically unable to conduct eradication programmes and to finance them. Economic health is here considered as a starting point of the new ethical and science-based One Health Financial Model that the authors suggest as an in-embryo model, in which specific rules should regulate public funds, private investments, and trading, which should exclusively concern public services and private enterprises complying with most of the OH parameters. In this way, economic losses due to collateral negative effects deriving from human activities can be progressively decreased, and the entire planet will benefit from the process. Despite the considerable efforts being carried out in the context of the OH approach, war causes tragic and devastating effects on the physical and mental health of human beings, on their lives, on pandemic and zoonotic threats, on animals, on plants and, last but not least, on the environment. War is incompatible with OH. Enormous efforts for peace are therefore urgently needed.

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From the Intersection of Food-Borne Zoonoses and EU Green Policies to an In-Embryo One Health Financial Model

Ukraine leads Europe in the number of rabies cases reported in both wild and domestic animals. Endemic rabies in Ukraine poses a threat of rabies spreading into non-endemic neighbouring countries, including Poland, Slovak Republic, Hungary and Romania. This study is the first to collate and analyze rabies cases at the national level in Ukraine. Spatial and temporal analysis was performed to identify space-time clusters of rabies cases using nationally collated rabies surveillance data from 2012-2018. In the study period, 10,717 rabies cases were confirmed, with the majority in domestic carnivores (49.5%; cats: 28.5%; dogs: 21.1%) and the other primarily in foxes (34.0%). Rabies epidemic curves identified peak rabies incidence from October to December for foxes and from October to March for domestic carnivores. The kernel density of rabies for all species indicates a permanently high density in southwest Ukraine (Zakarpattia and Vinnytsia oblasts) and lower in northeast Ukraine (Poltava oblast). The highest density of rabies cases in foxes occurred in oblasts bordering European countries, while rabid domestic carnivores were concentrated near the border with the Russian Federation. The analysis identified 10 statistically significant clusters in foxes and 3 in domestic carnivores, mostly in the same high kernel density locations. Early clusters of foxes were recorded on January 3, 2012 in western Ukraine (ratio, 2.21), and early clusters of domestic carnivores on January 30, 2012 in western Ukraine as well (ratio, 6.39). These findings provide insight into the temporal patterns and distribution of rabies case clusters in wildlife and domestic carnivores in Ukraine. Our study provides policymakers with the first statistically valuable data on the hotspot regions and timing of rabies outbreaks. The analysis may contribute to improved rabies prevention and surveillance strategies by identifying regions for targeted prevention measures so that national programmes for the prevention, surveillance and control of rabies in Ukraine are executed more effectively.

http://www.medycynawet.edu.pl/images/stories/pdf/pdf2021/00-artwait/2021116589.pdf

A descriptive spatiotemporal analysis of rabies in domestic carnivores and wildlife in Ukraine in 2012-2018

Ukraine remains the only country in Europe where rabies is widespread among animals and humans. Annually there are about 1,600 rabies cases in animals in Ukraine and sporadic cases in humans have been registered despite the conducting of preventive measures. Therefore, the aim of the study was to inspect the failures in rabies prevention, indicate the top reasons for human cases and highlights the risk of animal attacks in view of their species and geographical distribution in Ukraine during 1996–2020. The following archival state materials were used for analysis: from the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and from the annual reports of oblast departments of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection. In general, more than 84,000 people (187.4 per 100,000 of the population) were affected by bites or harmful contact with animals every year, among them, 2,155 people were victims of rabid animals. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) was prescribed annually, on average, for 21,434 patients (25.5% of all victims). Most people were attacked by cats and dogs that had owners (71.5%). The frequency of the proportion of the risk of attacks by rabid dogs on humans was (1:124), from cats (1:25), wild animals (1:7), and farm animals (1:2), but the largest general proportion of animal attacks on people was from dogs – 838,635 attacks (77.7%). Thus, due to the permanently higher level of contact with people, attacks by dogs remains more dangerous. Geographically attacks on humans by domestic carnivores were observed most commonly in the east part of Ukraine due to the high urbanization of the region and the high density of the human population. A large number of attacks by foxes was observed in the west part of Ukraine due to the larger area of forests and fields. During the last 25 years, there have been 63 human rabies cases. The main sources of rabies were dogs (24 cases) and cats (22 cases). The main causes of development of rabies were: failure to receive the PEP due to the absence of a visit to a hospital after an attack of an animal (n = 38), failures in prescribing PEP (n = 15), failure of PEP (n = 10). In conclusion, the gaps in the control measures against rabies are the lack of agreed coordination of inter-sectoral links, the lack of significant efforts to raise public awareness and the lack of funding for prophylaxis programmes for humans and animals. Our future research will be aimed at modelling the transmission of rabies from the pet population to humans.

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T. M. Krupinina

Papers

Current issues and gaps in the implementation of rabies prevention in Ukraine in recent decades