Guest Lectures Series on One Health Concept in Animal Science and Production

 

In his welcoming address on behalf of the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Mauritius, Mr. K. Boodhoo opened the lecture series by emphasizing the critical role of the One Health approach in controlling both animal and human diseases. In his address, Mr. Boodhoo expressed his gratitude to Dr. Charlena Poonyth for her initiative in reaching out to the Faculty to jointly organize the lecture series. He commended this collaborative effort, noting that such partnerships are vital for advancing the Faculty's mission in agricultural education and research. The other key points from the address were he highlighted that the integration of human, animal, and environmental health is essential for effective disease management. He noted with appreciation that the audience reflected the full spectrum of the One Health initiative, including representatives from the animal, human, and environmental health sectors. He also underscored the University's active role in fostering collaborative regional networks to address complex biosecurity challenges.  

The series of lectures were jointly delivered by Professor DVM Keita Matsuno from the Division of Risk Analysis and Management, Hokkaido University (Japan), and Mag. med. vet. Charlena Poonyth, in collaboration with the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Mauritius. Drawing on experiences from Japan and the Indian Ocean region, the session illustrated how One Health operates in practice, particularly through real-world examples such as vector-borne diseases, emerging zoonoses, and regional surveillance networks. Senior Researchers, Dr M.Dupraz and T.Baldet from The Réseau ASTRE (Animal Surveillance of Tropical Diseases) a regional surveillance network operating in the Indian Ocean region, including islands such as Réunion, Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros, and Seychelles., also gave an overview of the Research activities being carried out in the region.

The One Health concept, - A New Way to Think About Health.

Instead of just waiting for people to get sick and then treating them, the One Health approach focuses on stopping problems before they start. It looks at how the health of people, animals, and the environment are all connected. As global health challenges increasingly emerge at the interface of these three domains—through zoonotic diseases, vector-borne infections, environmental change, and food system pressures—One Health has become a central framework for prevention, risk analysis, and health management.

Think of One Health as a high-stakes "team sport" where doctors, veterinarians, and environmental scientists join forces to tackle health risks before they spiral out of control. Instead of just staying in textbooks, this practical approach focuses on how to actually anticipate, detect, and manage diseases in the real world where humans and animals live together. Because modern health threats don't care about country borders or species lines, the strategy relies heavily on international teamwork and shared data. By connecting the dots between our health, animal health, and the environment, experts can better protect the entire planet from complex biological threats

Vector Borne Diseases

Vector-borne diseases are among the clearest and most intuitive ways to understand the One Health concept in practice. Rather than appearing suddenly in humans, these diseases emerge from a chain of interactions between the environment, animals, and vectors that transmit pathogens. 

 Yezo Virus in a One Health Context

Yezo virus is a recently identified tick-borne virus and a compelling modern example of One Health in action. It was first detected and described by Professor Keita Matsuno himself, the speaker of this lecture, offering a unique opportunity to learn about One Health directly from the scientist involved in its discovery. First detected in people with fever in northern Japan, particularly on the island of Hokkaido, Yezo virus was linked to tick bites, highlighting the role of ticks as vectors connecting the environment, animals, and humans.

From a One Health perspective, Yezo virus does not originate in humans. Instead, it is maintained in natural ecosystems, where ticks feed on wild animals such as deer and rodents. These animals usually show no obvious signs of illness but act as reservoir hosts, allowing the virus to persist in nature. Ticks acquire the virus during blood feeding and can later transmit it to humans.

Environmental conditions play a key role in this process. Forested landscapes, suitable vegetation, moisture, and climate conditions support both tick survival and wildlife populations. Changes such as climate warming, expanding forests, and increased human outdoor activity increase contact between ticks and people, raising the risk of infection. Humans are therefore accidental hosts, becoming infected when they enter tick habitats for work or recreation.

Importantly, Yezo virus illustrates why tick-borne diseases cannot be prevented by human medicine alone. Treating patients does not reduce tick populations or interrupt transmission in wildlife. Effective prevention requires a One Health approach, combining environmental monitoring, wildlife surveillance, vector control, and public awareness measures such as tick avoidance and early removal.

By tracing Yezo virus from ecosystems to animals and finally to human disease, this example reinforces a central One Health message: human health outcomes are shaped long before infection occurs, through interactions between the environment, animals, and vectors. Read more here

Animal Disease Research 

As a vital component of her doctoral research, Dr. Charlena Poonyth provided a comprehensive overview of her proposed investigation into ruminant health and vector-borne diseases in Mauritius for the upcoming years. In Mauritius, ruminants—cattle, sheep, goats, and deer—are the quiet pillars of the national economy. They represent the primary livelihood for thousands of farmers, breeders, and butchers. Through the lens of the One Health paradigm, Dr. Poonyth's research addresses the urgent need for biosafety and surveillance, particularly focusing on pathogens like Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) and Heartwater Disease. Her project includes a landmark sampling mission scheduled for February 2026, which aims to establish the first nationwide database of vector-borne diseases across all nine districts of the island. This pioneer movement will pair specific vectors, such as Hyalomma and Amblyomma ticks, with the pathogens they carry to bring Mauritian biosecurity to international standards. Read more here

 The Culicoides

In the guest lectures, Culicoides biting midges and ticks were used as illustrative examples because they make these connections visible and easy to grasp. Both vectors are highly sensitive to environmental conditions such as climate, land use, and farming practices; they rely on animals to maintain and spread pathogens; and they ultimately affect human health directly (as with tick-borne diseases) or indirectly through livestock health, food security, and trade (as with Culicoides-borne viruses). By following how these vectors move through ecosystems and animal populations, we can clearly see why preventing vector-borne diseases requires a One Health approach, rather than focusing on human medicine alone.

The discussion highlighted how environmental factors such as climate change, moisture, and farming practices influence Culicoides populations and their distribution. These insects transmit important viral diseases of livestock, including bluetongue disease and Schmallenberg virus, which cause significant animal suffering, production losses, and economic damage. Through reduced milk and meat production, movement restrictions, and trade bans, these animal diseases have clear indirect impacts on human livelihoods and food security.

The talk emphasized that controlling Culicoides-borne diseases cannot rely on veterinary treatment alone. Instead, effective prevention requires a One Health approach, combining environmental management, vector surveillance, animal health monitoring, and coordinated policy responses. By following the pathway from environment to vector to animal and finally to human impact, the talk demonstrated how Culicoides midges provide a clear and accessible illustration of One Health in action. Read more here

Tick Borne Diseases

The talk used ticks as a clear and intuitive example to demonstrate how vector-borne diseases operate within the One Health framework. Ticks were presented as vectors that directly connect environmental conditions, animal hosts, and human disease, making them especially useful for understanding how health risks emerge across systems rather than in isolation.

The discussion explained how ticks depend on specific environmental factors, including vegetation, humidity, temperature, and climate stability. Changes such as warmer winters, reforestation, and land-use change were shown to increase tick survival and expand their geographic range. These environmental shifts directly influence tick abundance and the risk of disease transmission.

The role of animals was highlighted as central to the tick life cycle. Wildlife such as rodents and deer maintain tick populations and the pathogens they carry, often without showing signs of illness. Domestic animals and pets can also transport ticks into human environments, increasing exposure. Humans, by contrast, are accidental hosts, becoming infected through outdoor activities such as farming, forestry, or recreation.

The talk emphasized that tick-borne diseases cannot be effectively controlled through human medicine alone. Instead, prevention requires a One Health approach, combining environmental management, wildlife and animal surveillance, vector control, and public awareness. By tracing disease risk from ecosystems to animals and finally to humans, the talk demonstrated how ticks provide a powerful real-world illustration of One Health in practice. Read more here

Biodata of the Key Speakers

Dr Charlena Poonyth is a veterinarian and current PhD student at Hokkaido University in Japan. Her current doctoral research focuses on the critical field of emerging vector-borne diseases. She earned her Diploma of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Veterinary Medicine, Vienna , and has developed a professional specialization in ruminant health and integrative medicine. In addition to her research, Charlena is a Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist. She brings a truly international perspective to her work, having completed clinical internships in Germany, Austria, and Thailand , and she is professionally proficient in English, French, German, and Japanese.

Dr. Keita Matsuno is an Associate Professor at the International Institute for Zoonosis Control at the Division of Risk Analysis and Management at Hokkaido University and a key member of the One Health Research Center. As a veterinarian and virologist, he has dedicated his career to the discovery and characterization of emerging zoonotic viruses. His work is perhaps most widely recognized for the 2021 discovery of the Yezo virus, a novel pathogen found in Hokkaido that causes acute febrile illness in humans. Beyond virus discovery, Dr. Matsuno’s research into the pathogenesis of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus (SFTSV) has provided critical insights into how these diseases impact both wildlife and human populations. Through his efforts in developing advanced diagnostic tools and his advocacy for the One Health initiative, Dr. Matsuno is playing a vital role in global preparedness against the next generation of zoonotic epidemics.

Dr. Marlene Dupraz is a senior researcher with the ASTRE research unit (CIRAD-INRAE), based at the Cyroi technological platform right here in La Réunion. A specialist in ticks and tick-borne diseases, she holds a PhD from the University of Montpellier, where her early research focused on the complex evolutionary relationships between ticks and seabirds. Her current work is at the forefront of vector biology and ecology. She investigates the adaptive relationships between infectious agents and their hosts, with a particular focus on disease control methods and the growing challenge of acaricide resistance. Beyond ticks, her expertise extends to supporting research on mosquitoes and other biting flies. Dr. Dupraz is a key contributor to the One Health Indian Ocean network and maintains active international collaborations with partners in the Caribbean, Australia, and Cuba to improve integrated vector management globally.

 

Dr. Thierry Baldet is a senior research scientist with the ASTRE research unit, a joint initiative between CIRAD and INRAE. With over 25 years of experience in the research, surveillance, and control of vector-borne diseases, he is a leading specialist in managing emerging health risks. He holds a PhD from the University of Montpellier and has a distinguished international career, having worked extensively across Africa and Europe, as well as serving as a Senior Program Specialist for the IDRC in Canada. Throughout his career, he has provided high-level expertise for global organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Currently based at the CYROI technological platform in La Réunion, Dr. Baldet serves as the coordinator for the One Health Indian Ocean network. This regional partnership is vital for the prevention and control of infectious risks and antibiotic resistance across the region.