is one of the world's leading teaching and research hospitals for wildlife and conservation medicine, providing state-of-the-art veterinary care for more than 3000 wild animals each year.

The center of draws on lessons learned from each patient admitted to teach the world to care about and care for wildlife and the environment.

>>Funding for "Untamed" is brought to you by (water flowing) (gentle music) >>The U S centers for disease control and prevention have said that six out of ten infectious diseases that affect humans originate with animals, or at least they're spread by animals.

And we're finding increasingly that what we do to the environment, to ecosystems, affecting both domestic and wild animals can have a profound consequence for the incidents and intensity of disease events.

We now know that it is impossible to separate considerations of the environment from human health considerations from considerations of animal health.

It's all One Health.

(gentle music) The balance of nature is increasingly imbalanced and we humans are largely responsible.

On a global scale certainly the biggest impact we are having on the planet is that we're changing the climate.

Now that's manifesting itself in a lot of ways increases in ocean temperature affecting coral reefs.

The loss of the polar ice cap is increasing the flow of fresh water into the oceans reducing the salinity of our oceans, which in turn reduces the capacity of the oceans to produce certain types of fish and shellfish.

As we pollute our rivers and streams we compromise the ability of those ecosystems to sustain life.

And it's not just wildlife, it's human life as well.

(lively music) Increasingly we recognize that all life on the planet is absolutely linked and connected through the network of living things.

You can't pull one thread without having an impact someplace else.

Animal life, human life and the environment and the health of all three are absolutely connected.

We have to recognize that we have to take responsibility for it and we have to learn how to deal with it.

Here at The Wildlife Center of Virginia.

We're one of the leading teaching and research hospitals for wildlife and conservation medicine in the United States and indeed the whole world.

Every single animal that comes in the door gives us an opportunity Not only to figure out what's wrong with an individual patient, but to understand the problems in the environment affecting an entire species an entire population of wildlife and indeed potentially affecting humans as well.

(gentle music) >>What is One Health and why would we make an entire episode about it?

For me, One Health is the umbrella term used to describe the interconnectivity of the health relationships between humans, animals and the environment.

The easiest example for most people to understand is the food chain and the food that we consume.

There has to be healthy amounts of rain and of sunshine in order to grow healthy grass.

That grass is then consumed by a deer, a cow or a rabbit which is then inevitably consumed by a predatory animals such as a bear or a mountain lion or even a human.

If that grass isn't healthy and that sunshine and that rain hasn't provided that healthy growth then the rest of the food chain can completely be effected.

But One Health is so much more than just that one example of a food Chain.

Though you might not be familiar with the terminology One Health, you certainly practice several of the concepts in your daily lives.

Examples include getting your annual flu shot making sure your children and pets are up to date on vaccines, ensuring that your water is potable that you're storing and cooking food properly.

Even enjoying watching the birds feed at your bird feeders in your yard.

All of these things embody what One Health really is about.

As a veterinarian, it's almost guaranteed that every conference I attend will have some sort of mention of One Health or what's going on in the world in regard to One Health.

This may make you think that One Health has a relatively new concept.

However, though the terminology may have been different, One Health dates back to 400 BC in Hippocrates writings on airs, waters and places.

In which they basically describe that whoever is going to investigate medicine must do so with the seasons, the winds and the waters in mind.

Even back then they recognize that the health relationships were so important.

And that if one thing going to affect the environment or the water or the air, it's also going to affect its inhabitants.

Then there's Chief Seattle, a native American chief who lived from the late 1700s to the mid 1800s.

Who's considered to be an advocate for environmental awareness and connectivity.

One of my all-time favorite quotes by him is "man has not woven the web of life, "he is merely one strand in it, "whatever man does to the web he does to himself."

And there have been multiple philosophers, physicians and environmentalist who have studied and reported on the findings of One Health and how important those health relationships are.

So why then does it seem like One Health has been all the rage in recent years?

For me, there's not really a clear answer though I do have some thoughts.

A few of those might be the rate at which information is disseminated through the internet and social media, the anti-vaccination movement, which has led to emergence of diseases like measles and mumps that we haven't seen in years.

The number of diseases that we're seeing due to an increasing human population, which then leads to things like increased travel and habitat encroachment.

Even the shifts to the preference of consuming organic meats and vegetables shows us that humans are becoming more and more concerned with what's going in and on the foods that they consume.

All of these things could be examples of why we're seeing the words One Health on a more frequent basis.

(gentle music) >>One Health is very important to consider when caring for our patients, because not only do we have to think about how to treat them while they're with us but we also have to think about how they will interact with their environment when they are ultimately released.

We always keep the One Health initiative in mind when treating our patients here at The Wildlife Center of Virginia.

For this reason we avoid using expired medications or over prescribing medications, such as antibiotics to prevent contributing to anti-microbial resistance.

The overuse of antibiotics can cause a buildup of resistance in bacteria which causes the medications to be less effective.

We have to keep in mind how our patients will interact with their environment when they are ultimately released.

Not only does this include how they will interact with other animals in that environment but also with people.

Many of our patients have regulated hunting seasons.

So when we prescribed them with medications, we have to consider the amount of time it will take for that drug to leave their system before they can safely be released and ultimately possibly consumed by people or other animals.

One of the biggest concerns when working with wild animals is the possibility of disease transmission.

For this reason, we have all of our enclosures set up so that they are easy to disinfect and they are far away from people or domestic animals.

Additionally, when we were working with our patients we make sure to wear latex gloves, to provide a barrier between us and that patient.

And we frequently wash our hands throughout the day just to further prevent any sort of possibility of disease transmission.

(gentle music) >>A lot of the calls We get here at The wildlife Center of Virginia are One Health related.

For example, I get a lot of calls about people seeing raccoons or foxes out during the day.

Rabies is always a concern but just because an animal is out during the day doesn't mean it has rabies.

There are a lot of reasons why animals might be out during the day.

Pregnant and nursing mothers need extra time to find food.

Males will move during the day to find mates and juveniles start exploring outside of the den during the day.

If you see a Fox or raccoon out during the day, observe its behavior.

If it's alert and walking normally it's most likely fine.

If you see that it's lethargic, stumbling or circling definitely call a wildlife rehabilitator for more information.

It's important to remember that any wild mammal can transmit rabies.

Many people will rescue orphaned wildlife without wearing protective gear because they assume that entrance can't transmit a disease.

This is simply not true.

They can get the disease from their parents while they're still infants.

If you do have to rescue orphaned wildlife, always wear protective gear.

Rabies is not the only disease for wildlife and human health overlap.

Feeding pets outside increases your risk of transferring diseases from wildlife to your pets.

I got a real call from someone just earlier this year who was feeding cats outside and then the raccoons were eating out of the same bowls.

She was taking those bowls and washing them in her kitchen sink where she also washes her family's dishes.

Raccoons can carry multiple diseases including a parasite called Baylisascaris It is extremely hard to kill this roundworm and they will survive a bleach cleaning.

This family got sick even though they weren't directly interacting with wildlife.

So it's important to remember to never feed pets outside because of the increased risk of disease transfer.

Another example of where wildlife and human health overlap is with fawns We love fawns they're really cute.

We love seeing them in our yard but they're full of parasites that can cause some real damage to us.

Some examples of these parasites are crypto and Giardia.

If you interact with a fawns without the proper protections these parasites can transfer very easily to you.

If you do have to rescue a fawn in distress wear the proper protection do not touch them with your bare hands.

Fawns also have a very weak immune system because they're so young we can also transfer diseases onto fawns.

So we want to be sure that we're keeping them safe and we're keeping ourselves safe.

(gentle music) >>A big part of my job involves educating people about and monitoring for Zoonotic diseases or Zoonoses.

Zoonoses are the diseases that can infect both people and animals.

And it's estimated that they make up about 60% of all diseases.

So employing the One Health concept, which is the concept that the health of people is affected by the health of animals and the environment is a big part of my job and also informs the collaborations that the health department builds with one health in mind.

There are a number of examples of how the health of people can be influenced by the health of animals and the environment.

For instance, there's good evidence that the transmission of West Nile virus can be influenced and can be increased by hot and dry environments.

What this means for Virginia is that when we have hot dry summers there could be an increased potential risk of human infection with West Nile virus.

This can inform how the health department distributes mosquito borne disease prevention messages and also informs how we collaborate and communicate with other important partners such as mosquito control authorities, human health care providers, and clinical veterinarians.

All of whom in any given mosquito season can help us understand how West Nile virus may be affecting human health.

Rabies is a disease that's commonly found in Virginia's wildlife, particularly certain wild animals like raccoons, skunks and foxes through direct outreach to members of the general public, and also collaborating with many partners, including animal control officers human healthcare providers, agricultural authorities, laboratory personnel and wildlife authorities.

The health department helps to coordinate rabies prevention and control activities to protect human health.

Prevention of disease is really a core mission of the health department.

And so when that comes to rabies, that is reflected in the work that local health departments do every day to respond to rabies exposure concerns and also participate in rabies control activities.

It's also reflected in the statewide longstanding campaign called Rabies Awareness Week that the Virginia Department of Health has co-sponsored with the Virginia Veteran Medical Association for many years.

This campaign emphasizes a number of rabies prevention and control messages, but it really focuses on the critical link between vaccinating domestic animals like dogs and cats and human health.

Because if we vaccinate and protect the animals that we have the most contact with that creates a barrier between rabies in wildlife and people.

Virginia also participates and helps in supportive USDA's oral rabies vaccination program, a program designed help prevent the Westward spread of the raccoon bearing of the rabies virus with the ultimate goal of eliminating that variant from the East Coast entirely.

(gentle music) >>The Oral Rabies Vaccination Program is a national program implemented by the USDA wildlife services national rabies management program.

The goals of the program are to stop the spread of terrestrial rabies and to work towards the eventual elimination of certain variants of rabies.

A primary focus of the program is the control of raccoon variant and rabies on the East Coast.

Since the 1980s, wildlife has served as the primary source of rabies in the United States.

About 90% of rabies cases each year occur in wildlife species.

Raccoons are the most reported cases but they can also occur in other species, including bats, skunks and foxes.

At this time raccoon variant of rabies is only found in the Eastern part of the U S. So USDA has constructed an oral rabies vaccination zone that stretches from Maine to Alabama to try to stop the westward spread of that virus.

In cooperation with our federal state and local partners, USDA distributes over 10 million oral rabies vaccination baits each year.

The majority of these baits are distributed from fixed wing aircraft over rural areas.

Some baits around urban suburban areas are distributed by ground vehicles and helicopters so that we can be more precise with the placement of baits and wildlife habitat and avoid placing them in areas where we might be concerned about human or pet contact.

The oral rabies vaccine is contained within a coded sachet which is a packet that contains the vaccine, but is coded on the outside with an attractant to attract wild animals.

This attractant is generally something that smells like fishmeal.

As a raccoon bites into the vaccine packet it swallows some of the vaccine and it becomes immunized against rabies.

Ongoing rabies surveillance in cooperation with federal state and local partners is conducted to determine where new cases rabies may occur to monitor the effectiveness of the program and to help with responses to new outbreaks and also to help develop bait strategies in the program.

Rabies is a disease that's a 100% fatal but also a 100% preventable.

That's why USDA is working to protect livestock animals pets, and ultimately humans in treated areas.

Rabies outbreak costs can total hundreds of millions of dollars.

The USDA oral rabies vaccination program has been determined to save approximately $60 million per year in associated rabies costs.

The oral rabies vaccination project is a perfect example of the One Health concept.

USDA works cooperatively with federal state and local partners from multiple disciplines including epidemiology, public health and wildlife management to achieve one public health goal.

(gentle music) >>I think that so often one health is thought of more so as looking at the health status of a particular animal or a human in relation to what diseases they may or may not be carrying.

Some diseases such as Canine Distemper or Avian Pox virus are extremely contagious to other domestic or wild animals.

In those cases, we have to be extremely careful how we handle or house those animals.

So as not to risk spreading that particular disease from one patient to another.

Other diseases such as White-Nose syndrome in bats aren't necessarily a health risk for humans or other animals.

However, those diseases are having such devastating effects on the particular species.

Those bats are such an important part of our ecosystem that those issues become a One Health issue.

Other diseases such as rabies can be zoonotic which means it can be transmitted from animals to humans.

And in those cases, we have to be extremely careful how we handle those patients.

So as not to get bitten or scratched by those animals.

Though, diseases are an important part of One Health.

They're not the only issue that fall underneath that One Health umbrella that our patients may present with.

Anytime we admit an Eagle or a Vulture showing signs of lead intoxication, and that has detectable lead levels within their blood.

We're reminded of the importance of discouraging the use of lead ammunition.

Lead bullets that are commonly used in hunting rifles leave very small fragments throughout the body of their target.

Whenever these small fragments are consumed by scavenging wildlife, or when they're ground into products such as deer sausage can have a negative effect on their consumer, humans included.

Other toxicities for which our patients may present with include things like rodenticide or rat baits that is sometimes consumed by a non target species, such as a squirrel or a Groundhog for which those baits aren't necessarily intended.

Sometimes we even see Hawks or Owls that have consumed the animal that has consumed the rat bait.

So we see all sorts of toxicities related to products such as that.

Other substances that are put into our environment such as pesticides, fertilizers, air pollutants put out by cars or even cigarettes can have negative effects on humans, animals and our environment.

Sometimes these negative effects may be seen readily.

And sometimes we might not even know the full extent of their lasting effects for years to come.

Take Deep Water Horizon for example, this catastrophic oil spill occurred in 2010 and immediately resulted in the loss of human lives and the loss of life of the flora and fauna in the Gulf of Mexico.

News reports were showing images of birds covered in oil and aerial footage of a dark black Shane that was covering the waters of the coast.

Years after the event occurred the economic impact was still being felt by those families who rely on the shrimp and oyster harvest in order to make their living and in the individuals responded to the oil spill and therefore inhaled or even ingested the harmful chemicals but such examples of environmental contamination and pollution doesn't have to be so extreme.

Things like not littering or composting and recycling our household waste or even disposing products such as paint, motor oil or cleaning products on a daily basis are things that you and I can do in order to reduce environmental contamination.

Another important aspect of One Health that we haven't specifically covered but that is so interconnected in all of the issues that we've talked about is mental health.

For some people, just the notion of having animals such as bears, songbirds and owls to see in the woods or in their backyards, or even the ability to take a hike in the woods and to breathe fresh air is important enough for people to understand the importance of a healthy environment.

For others the importance of animals and their benefit for one's personal mental health is a little more complex.

Such examples include service dogs that guide the blind or that alert diabetic patients when their blood sugar is getting too low or cats that comfort the residents of nursing homes in their final days of life.

We continue to learn about the importance of the human animal bond.

We even see it in situations such as natural disasters or domestic violence victims who won't leave their homes unless there's an option for their pet to come with them.

At the wildlife center our patients give us a little snapshot of the bigger picture.

From them we can learn about the air that they're breathing the water that they're drinking or living in, and even the things that they're consuming.

We're reminded of the negative effects of things like pesticides on crops, air pollutants, and even the litter that we leave across the landscape can have on not only our animals but on ourselves and the rest of the environment.

This is what One Health is all about.

Recognizing the butterfly effects that one individual can have on the rest of the planet and realizing that even if something doesn't seem important to you it probably is important to something or someone else (gentle music) >>While a subject as broad as One Health may seem too sweeping for an individual to truly affect.

You actually can do things right around your own home or your farm that can eliminate the spread of infectious disease.

And some of it's pretty simple.

One thing, vaccinate your pets, vaccinate your livestock as according to the veterinarian's recommendation.

And for that matter, be sure that the people in your household are also vaccinated according to your doctor's recommendations.

You can eliminate much of the threat caused by disease vectors like ticks and mosquitoes by removing the breeding grounds for mosquitoes standing water, old tires, things of this nature and by removing invasive species like Japanese honeysuckle which actually provides a safe harbor for ticks that can spread disease like Lyme disease.

You can reduce your use of pesticides in your yard to reduce the contamination in the environment of your home, but also in the rivers, lakes and streams in your area.

Consider what is called integrated pest management, natural practices that reduce the impact of weeds, insects or other pests on your property.

And remember that by simply reducing the waste you generate single use plastic containers, plastic bags that just don't seem to go away in the environment.

You're not only helping to make your own personal environment more attractive and more enjoyable as a place to live.

You're actually protecting the planet because that plastic doesn't stay where it's put and it ends up causing problems for all living things.

It's simply a matter of changing your thought process.

As you go through your day just consider the little decisions you make and the impact they can have not only on yourself and your family, but on all living things.

(gentle music) >>funding for "Untamed" is brought to you by.

(upbeat music)