Theme 4: One Health ​

The objective of Theme 4 is to assess risks pertaining to zoonotic farm animal diseases and foodborne antimicrobial resistance and support the establishment of policies and measures to minimize these.

Throughout the last 50 years the global consumption of animal products has tripled, and with it the number of farm animals that are kept. At the global level, international trade is progressively interconnecting national food supply chains, while at the municipal level increasing waste material recycling and integration of production systems brings different segments of the food supply cycle closer together. Despite the many economic benefits that such convergence of markets, farms, animals and people bear, there are also risks related to it, especially with respect to the potential speed and routes of disease transmissions. Over the last 30 years, approximately 75 % of new infectious diseases in humans have been zoonotic, including COVID-19. So far only little is known about the prevalence and transmission paths of the most prominent zoonotic diseases in farm animals and animal products of the UAE. The ARIFSID systematically assesses these and develops digital infrastructure to predict related health risks. ​

Not only farm animal diseases spread quickly in a connected world, but also antimicrobial resistances (AMR) resulting from an increasing use of antimicrobial compounds in agriculture worldwide. The AMR cause a declining effectiveness of medicines to treat bacterial infections and have been named by the World Health Organization as one of the greatest threats to global health and food security. The ARIFSID therefore studies the complex ecology of AMR and its interactions with bacterial communities, commensals and pathogens in animals, the food chain, and the environment.

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