Transdisciplinary and social-ecological health frameworks-Novel approaches to emerging parasitic and vector-borne diseases

A Alonso Aguirre; Niladri Basu; Laura H Kahn; Xenia K Morin; Pierre Echaubard; Bruce A Wilcox; Val R Beasley

doi:10.1016/j.parepi.2019.e00084

Transdisciplinary and social-ecological health frameworks-Novel approaches to emerging parasitic and vector-borne diseases

Parasite Epidemiol Control. 2019 Jan 11:4:e00084. doi: 10.1016/j.parepi.2019.e00084. eCollection 2019 Feb.

Authors

A Alonso Aguirre¹, Niladri Basu², Laura H Kahn³, Xenia K Morin⁴, Pierre Echaubard⁵, Bruce A Wilcox⁵, Val R Beasley⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Environmental Science and Policy, College of Science, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.
² Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
³ Program on Science and Global Security, Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
⁴ Department of Plant Biology, Rutgers University, NJ, USA.
⁵ Global Health Asia Institute, Faculty of Public Health, Mahidol University, Thailand.
⁶ Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA.

Abstract

Ecosystem Health, Conservation Medicine, EcoHealth, One Health, Planetary Health and GeoHealth are inter-related disciplines that underpin a shared understanding of the functional prerequisites of health, sustainable vitality and wellbeing. All of these are based on recognition that health interconnects species across the planet, and they offer ways to more effectively tackle complex real-world challenges. Herein we present a bibliometric analysis to document usage of a subset of such terms by journals over time. We also provide examples of parasitic and vector-borne diseases, including malaria, toxoplasmosis, baylisascariasis, and Lyme disease. These and many other diseases have persisted, emerged or re-emerged, and caused great harm to human and animal populations in developed and low income, biodiverse nations around the world, largely because of societal drivers that undermined natural processes of disease prevention and control, which had developed through co-evolution over millennia. Shortcomings in addressing drivers has arisen from a lack or coordinated efforts among researchers, health stewards, societies at large, and governments. Fortunately, specialists collaborating under transdisciplinary and socio-ecological health umbrellas are increasingly integrating established and new techniques for disease modeling, prediction, diagnosis, treatment, control, and prevention. Such approaches often emphasize conservation of biodiversity for health protection, and they provide novel opportunities to increase the efficiency and probability of success.

Keywords: Baylisascariasis; Conservation Medicine; EcoHealth; Ecosystem Health; GeoHealth; Integrative research; Lyme disease; Malaria; One Health; Planetary Health; Social-ecological systems; Toxoplasmosis; Transdisciplinarity.