One What? Why GI Researchers Should Know and Care About the One Health Initiative

he One Health Initiative is an international moveTment that began in 2006 and is supported by, among others, the American Medical Association and the US Centers for Disease Control. Its goal is both laudable and logical: to bring together animal, human, and environmental health practitioners for collaborations that enhance health and well being, broadly and globally. Sadly, although One Health (and the related concept of Zoobiquity) are widely appreciated in the veterinary community, they are generally unknown in the human medical community, especially among subspecialists such as gastroenterologists. I first heard of One Health from a veterinary collaborator a year ago, and an informal survey of colleagues in gastrointestinal (GI) research suggested that most are similarly unaware of One Health. Veterinarians perform endoscopies and liver biopsies; make use of advanced imaging (computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and positron emission tomography scans) and laboratory tests; use chemotherapy and cutting-edge interventional radiology approaches in pets with luminal, pancreatic, and liver cancers; and manage many diseases such as GI diseases and others on a long-term basis. However, the veterinary and human medical systems largely