MEETING REPORT Emerging Infections: A Tribute to the One Medicine, One Health Concept R. E. Kahn 1 , D. F. Clouser 2 and J. A. Richt 2 1 Avian Flu Action, Warrington, Cheshire, UK 2 Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology Department, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS, USA Impacts • A symposium on ‘Emerging Infections: A Tribute to the One Medicine, One Health Concept’ was held on 13 and 14 November 2008 at Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, USA. Kansas State is part of the ‘Kansas City Animal Health Corridor’, with its universities and some 130 companies controlling one-third of the expenditure on animal health in the world. • This Meeting Report with summaries of all 32 presentations stresses how human and veterinary medicine are evolving together, sharing research models for emerging pathogens, prion diseases, bunya and influenza viruses and emerging/re-emerging diseases. • Mitigating zoonoses will require an integrated approach linking effective surveillance with environmental awareness and research to develop antiviral therapy and new vaccines, often within a perspective of systems biology. Keywords: Zoonotic disease; pathogens; prions; bunya viruses; influenza viruses; zoonotic infections Correspondence: J. A. Richt. Medicine/Pathobiology Department, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University, K224B Mosier Hall, Manhattan, KS 66506, USA. Tel.: +1 785 532 4408; Fax: +1 785 532 4039; E-mail: jricht@vet.k-state.edu Received for publication February 16, 2009 doi: 10.1111/j.1863-2378.2009.01255.x Summary Events in the last decade have taught us that we are now, more than ever, vulnerable to fatal zoonotic diseases such as those caused by haemorrhagic fever viruses, influenza, rabies and BSE/vCJD. Future research activities should focus on solutions to these problems arising at the interface between animals and humans. A 4-fold classification of emerging zoonoses was pro- posed: Type 1: from wild animals to humans (Hanta); Type 1 plus: from wild animals to humans with further human-to-human transmission (AIDS); Type 2: from wild animals to domestic animals to humans (Avian flu) and Type 2 plus: from wild animals to domestic animals to humans, with further human-to-human transmission (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS). The resulting holistic approach to emerging infections links microbiology, veterinary medicine, human medicine, ecology, public health and epidemiol- ogy. As emerging ‘new’ respiratory viruses are identified in many wild and domestic animals, issues of interspecies transmission have become of increas- ing concern. The development of safe and effective human and veterinary vaccines is a priority. For example, the spread of different influenza viruses has stimulated influenza vaccine development, just as the spread of Ebola and Marburg viruses has led to new approaches to filovirus vaccines. Interdisci- plinary collaboration has become essential because of the convergence of human disease, animal disease and a common approach to biosecurity. High containment pathogens pose a significant threat to public health systems, as well as a major research challenge, because of limited experience in case man- agement, lack of appropriate resources in affected areas and a limited number of animal research facilities in developed countries. Animal models that mimic certain diseases are key elements for understanding the underlying mechanisms of disease pathogenesis, as well as for the development and Zoonoses and Public Health ª 2009 Blackwell Verlag GmbH • Zoonoses Public Health. 56 (2009) 407–428 407