Biosecurity, Environmental Hygiene, and Infection Control in Veterinary Medicine: A One Health Implementation Agenda

Infectious diseases continue to represent a major challenge for animal health, public health, food production systems, and environmental sustainability. The central priority of safeguarding animal health as a key goal, also directly addresses the equally important effects of these diseases on humans and the environment. This priority has become even more critical given the emergence and dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens, alongside the increasing interactions between humans, animals, and ecosystems, as well as the growing complexity of veterinary healthcare context. These factors reinforce the need for robust biosecurity and infection prevention and control (IPC) strategies across multiple veterinary settings.Despite increasing recognition of the One Health approach, significant gaps still remain in the implementation, evaluation, and harmonization of biosecurity and infection prevention measures which address the interconnected health of animals, humans, and the environment. In particular, strategies targeting zoonotic pathogens, antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms and environmentally mediated transmission, require integrated One Health approaches across different veterinary settings. Veterinary hospitals and clinics, livestock production systems and slaughterhouses, animal shelters, wildlife rehabilitation centers and other animal-associated environments, may serve as reservoirs and dissemination points for zoonotic and antimicrobial-resistant pathogens. The knowledge to be acquired in these areas is central to improving animal health while developing strategies to reduce and mitigate pathogen transmission across the various animal–human–environment interfaces.This Research Topic aims to provide a multidisciplinary platform for advancing knowledge on biosecurity, infection prevention and control, and environmental health interventions that support One Health implementation across veterinary settings. We welcome original research articles, reviews, systematic reviews, brief research reports, and perspectives addressing both fundamental and applied aspects of these fields.Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:● Infection prevention and control programs in veterinary clinical practice of all animal species;● One Health-based implementation and evaluation of biosecurity in livestock production systems;● Environmental contamination, pathogen persistence and environmental transmission in animal-related settings;● Antimicrobial resistance surveillance and stewardship initiatives;● Transmission dynamics of zoonotic and multidrug-resistant pathogens;● One Health approaches to disease prevention and outbreak preparedness;● Monitoring and control of healthcare-associated infections in veterinary medicine;● Risk assessment and epidemiological investigations of infectious diseases with zoonotic transmission;● Behavioral, educational, and organizational factors influencing IPC compliance;● Innovative technologies and interventions supporting biosecurity and infection control.By bringing together contributions from veterinary medicine, microbiology, epidemiology, public health, environmental sciences, and related disciplines, this Research Topic seeks to promote evidence-based strategies that strengthen biosecurity practices, reduce infectious disease risks, and support sustainable One Health solutions across veterinary settings worldwide. Topic editors: Juliana Menezes, Elsa Leclerc Duarte, Cátia Marques Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82092/biosecurity-environmental-hygiene-and-infection-control-in-veterinary-medicine-a-one-health-implementation-agenda