One Health Mission studying migratory birds, slaughter houses to prevent zoonotic spillovers: ICMR-NIV

In a bid to check and prevent zoonotic spillovers, the National One Health Mission is studying migratory birds and slaughterhouses, said Dr Naveen Kumar, Director at the ICMR-National Virology Institute (NIV) here.

- 

The National One Health Mission (NOHM), launched in 2022, embraces the One Health approach and is a marked shift from reactive responses to proactive preparedness.

Zoonotic diseases are those that can spread between animals and humans.

"Of the infectious diseases, particularly the viral diseases, more than 70 per cent are zoonotic in nature," Kumar told IANS.

"That means, if you want to control the disease in humans, you have to control or need to adopt the measures to control the disease in animals, the vectors, in the environment," he added.

As this is not possible without an integrated approach, the NOHM was initiated with the coordination of 13 or more Ministries/Departments, Kumar noted.

This includes the Ministries of Health and Family Welfare, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Science and Technology and AYUSH among others.

Together, these have established robust surveillance systems across human, animal, and environmental health.