Experts say Australia should have a Centre for Disease Control. 

Australia is currently the only country in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) without a Centre for Disease Control.

In a new article, Australian researchers argue that the threat of diseases coming from wildlife such as COVID-19 shows the importance of approaching health in a way that brings together human health, animal health and environmental health. 

They say the establishment of a national Centre for Disease Control (CDC) would help Australia embrace the One Health concept, which recognises that protection of human health requires a collaborative approach that can more nimbly tackle problems at the interface of human, animal and environmental health.

“Zoonoses - diseases that transmit from vertebrate animals to humans - are twice as likely to be implicated as emerging diseases than non-zoonoses,” write the authors, Dr Sandra Steele from the University of Melbourne and colleagues Dr Siobhan Mor (University of Liverpool) and Associate Professor Jenny-Ann Toribio (University of Sydney).

“Such diseases have been increasingly linked to wildlife, which are a source of infection for humans and domestic animals, with viral spillover driven by human-induced changes in land use, agricultural intensification, and wildlife exploitation, among other things.

“Sadly, warnings from experts about the dangers of unsustainable development and its impact on natural systems remained largely unheeded by politicians and policymakers.”

“Under current structures, the national coordination and leadership for prevention and control of communicable diseases, including zoonoses, are led by the Communicable Diseases Network Australia,” wrote Steele and colleagues. 

“Formal representation of animal health professionals within this structure is limited to one veterinarian.

“The management of zoonotic diseases outbreaks depends on established working relationships and protocols between federal and state or territory human and animal health departments, the strength of which varies across jurisdictions.”

The One Health concept is an approach that was recently endorsed by G20 Health Ministers and the Quadripartite – comprised of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

“The new definition adopted by the Quadripartite makes clear that, beyond issues such as zoonoses, antimicrobial resistance and food safety, One Health is foremost about contributing to more sustainable development of the planet,” wrote the experts. 

The full paper is accessible here.