One Health Surveillance and Prevention of Emerging Zoonoses: From Molecular Epidemiology to Policy

Zoonotic diseases — infections transmitted between animals and humans — account for an estimated 60% of all known human infectious diseases and more than 75% of emerging infectious diseases. From long-recognized diseases such as brucellosis and leptospirosis to rapidly emerging pathogens including SARS-CoV-2, Nipah virus, and highly pathogenic avian influenza, zoonoses continue to challenge public health systems at local, regional, and global scales. Wildlife interfaces, intensifying livestock production, land-use change, climate shifts, and growing antimicrobial resistance collectively accelerate the conditions under which novel zoonotic pathogens emerge and spread. Preventing the emergence of zoonoses requires action long before outbreaks occur, and responding to these diseases demands more than pathogen-level science. Effective surveillance, timely detection, persistent control, and improved understanding of the drivers of zoonotic emergence to reduce risk all require coordinated action across the human, animal, and environmental health sectors — the foundational premise of the One Health framework. Yet significant gaps remain between molecular and epidemiological knowledge, operational surveillance capacity, and the policy frameworks needed to translate evidence into action. This Research Topic seeks new research and diverse perspectives to advance our understanding of the drivers of zoonotic emergence for improved prediction, prevention, control, and governance. We particularly welcome work that bridges scientific disciplines and connects bench-level discoveries to public health impact. Submissions addressing low- and middle-income countries, neglected zoonoses, and underserved populations are strongly encouraged. Suitable themes for papers submitted to this Research Topic include, but are not limited to: 1. Surveillance strategies and early warning systems: epidemiological approaches to identifying the risks and characterizing the incidence, prevalence, and distribution of zoonotic diseases in human, domestic animal, and wildlife populations and their environmental systems, including burden estimation, modelling studies, and assessments of surveillance systems that support early detection, prevention, and outbreak response, especially in endemic and resource-limited settings 2. Advances in diagnostics and point-of-care detection: development, validation, and field evaluation of laboratory and rapid diagnostic tools for zoonotic pathogens, with emphasis on applicability in low-resource or high-transmission settings 3. Genomic and phylogenetic epidemiology: application of whole-genome sequencing, phylodynamics, comparative genomics, and evolutionary analyses to characterize zoonotic pathogen diversity, host adaptation, spillover dynamics, and transmission chains at the human-animal-environment interface 4. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and clinical-public health implications: population-level studies on drug resistance patterns in zoonotic pathogens, public health burden of zoonotic AMR, treatment challenges arising at the animal-human-environment interface, and strategies to mitigate resistance (especially using the One Health framework) 5. One Health approaches to prevention and control: integrated intervention strategies spanning human medicine, veterinary practice, wildlife management, and environmental stewardship; evaluation of One Health programs and frameworks in operational settings 6. Policy, economic, programmatic, and social-cultural dimensions: analyses of governance structures, financing mechanisms, health system capacity, social-cultural factors, and equity considerations that shape the implementation and impact of zoonotic disease prevention and control programs at local, national, and international levels 7. Best practices and lessons learned: case studies and reports reflecting on and demonstrating successes and failures in all of the above, with actionable recommendations for improvement, scaling, and application across contexts Topic editors: Hongying Li, Anderson Kouabenan N'Gattia, Ariful Islam Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84722/one-health-surveillance-and-prevention-of-emerging-zoonoses-from-molecular-epidemiology-to-policy