One Health: Lessons Learned from East Africa

ABSTRACT Africa is faced with many of the most daunting challenges of our time. It comprises roughly 15% of the world’s human population, and most of its countries are perpetually ranked “Low” on the United Nations’ Human Development Index. On the other hand, Africa has arguably the largest proportion of intact natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and sociocultural capital and the lowest impact on global warming of any continent. Thus, African leaders are faced with competing demands and values among a multitude of complex issues, such as high human population growth, extreme poverty, food insecurity, land use policy, climate change, and biodiversity conservation. In this context, building sustainable national systems for human and/or animal health is one of the grand challenges of this generation. Today’s complex global health and development challenges require long-term commitment and a range of approaches that are too broad for any one discipline, institution, or country to implement on its own. The One Health concept recognizes the interconnectedness of global health issues and, as such, promotes the importance of and need for international, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral communication and collaboration at local, national, and international levels. By taking advantage of natural cultural tendencies for shared leadership, resource allocation, and community values, African leaders are currently proactively demonstrating the principles of One Health, and thus becoming a model for this global vision. And by focusing on partnerships rather than donor-recipient relationships, they are fostering the development of shared priorities and are increasingly driving their own health agenda to fulfill their own needs.


INTRODUCTION
Africa is faced with many of the most daunting challenges (food insecurity, poverty, and disease) of our time.With an area of 30 million square kilometers, it is the second-largest continent, covering 6% of the Earth's surface and 20% of its land mass.It currently comprises 54 sovereign countries accounting for roughly 15% of the world's human population.In 2009, 22 of 24 nations identified as having "Low Human Development" on the United Nations' Human Development Index were located in sub-Saharan Africa (http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/). Today, 33 of the 48 nations on the United Nations' list of least developed countries are in Africa.On the other hand, Africa also has arguably the largest proportion of intact natural ecosystems, biodiversity, and sociocultural capital and the lowest impact on global warming of any continent, with considerable "carbon credit."Africa's ratio of biocapacity (capacity of an area to provide resources and absorb wastes) to consumption (ecological footprint) (>150%) is much higher than that for the developed world, which is dramatically negative in these indicators.When an area's ecological footprint exceeds its biocapacity, unsustainability occurs (www.footprintnetwork.org).
African leaders are faced with daily competing demands and values among a multitude of complex issues such as high human population growth, extreme poverty, food insecurity, land use policy, climate change, and biodiversity conservation.In this context, building sustainable national systems for human and/or animal health is one of the grand challenges of this generation.Fortunately, the international community has made very large investments in health over a long period of time in Africa.Unfortunately, these investments often come with requirements or priorities that do not reflect those of the local people or government.This donor-recipient mismatch has led to further frustration of local health experts while reinforcing the need for more sustainable solutions aimed at systematically connecting communities with national governments and ministries.Nowhere is this more obvious than in the prevention and control of infectious diseases, including but not limited to malaria (1,2), tuberculosis (3), HIV (4), and yellow fever (5).
Today's global and complex health and development challenges require long-term commitment (6) and a range of approaches that are too broad for any one discipline, institution, or country to implement on its own (7).The One Health concept recognizes the interconnectedness of global health issues and, as such, promotes the importance of and need for international, interdisciplinary, and cross-sectoral communication and collaboration at local, national, and international levels.This concept, therefore, is a deliberate attempt to move away from the traditional narrow disciplinary approach to a more holistic, integrated approach that requires a new set of skills to implement, including leadership, team building, communication, and multidisciplinary project management on top of the traditional disciplinebased training.Thus, the One Health approach is a longterm strategy that requires the development of future global health leaders with the skills, knowledge, and experience in collaborating across disciplines and sectors to solve pressing and complex global health problems.
By taking advantage of natural cultural tendencies for shared leadership, resource allocation, and community values, African leaders are currently proactively demonstrating the principles of One Health, and thus becoming a model for this global vision.And by focusing on partnerships rather than donor-recipient relationships, they are fostering the development of shared priorities and are increasingly driving their own health agenda to fulfill their own needs.Although there is a long way to go, this holistic approach may provide a much needed sustainable platform for saving valuable resources while increasing human health, food security, and the conservation of natural resources.The following are a few initiatives and/or lessons learned from East Africa as experienced by the authors.

UNIVERSITIES IN SUPPORT OF ONE HEALTH
To realize One Health, there is a need for an interprofessional and transdiciplinary educational framework focused on developing a new generation of professional and academic leaders who can create an integrated scientific knowledge base.Universities have long been recognized for their potential to further national economic and social development goals.As centers of knowledge production, innovation, collaboration, and training, universities offer many advantages in this regard.James Coleman used the term "developmental universities" to describe the potential of universities to direct their work and mission toward national and social development goals (8).In recognition of this potential, the 1980s saw universities become indispensible parts of international development partnerships, which up until that point had been limited to a relationship between the donor and recipient governments.After a period of neglect and overshadowing by basic education reforms in the 1990s, there is now a resurgence of interest in investing in higher education for development purposes (7,9).
When it comes to implementing and institutionalizing the international, interdisciplinary, and crosssectoral One Health approach in particular, universities offer many advantages.Their strong community and government ties make them ideally situated to promote collaboration between international aid agencies, governments, the private sector, and local communities.In addition, as centers of education, training, and research, they can provide interdisciplinary training for the next generation of One Health professionals.
While universities have great potential, implementing and institutionalizing the One Health approach in Africa requires financial resources that exceed the capacity of African governments and institutions alone.Recognizing these limitations, cross-border university collaborations have become a widely accepted strategy for building institutional capacity to achieve broad development and global health goals (7).Among the different forms of cross-border university collaborations, university networks have recently emerged as a popular development strategy with support from leading international aid agencies and organizations such as the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Asian Development Bank, and UNESCO.University networks typically bring together a group of institutions to collaborate on a broad set of activities or common issue.These university networks, therefore, lend themselves well to One Health initiatives, which promote intersectoral, interinstitutional, and interdisciplinary research collaborations to solve local and global health challenges.This is evidenced by the growing number of One Health networks and consortia in which institutions of higher education and their respective health-related schools play a major role.A number of One Health networks involving universities are already under way in sub-Saharan Africa, and they are supported by a diverse group of donors, which suggests a global trend toward using university networks to address global health challenges (Table 1).
While university networks have a great deal of support and potential in the field of global health and development, systematic evaluation of this approach remains limited.This is partially because university networks are a relatively new development phenomenon, they take considerable time to develop, and their administrative structure and activities can be quite broad and difficult to track.As a result, little is known about the strengths and limitations of university networks as a strategy for development, and even less is known about the role of university networks in implementing a One Health approach to global health issues.In an attempt to fill these gaps, the following section identifies key themes that have emerged during the design and implementation of one particular One Health university network initiative, the One Health Central and Eastern Africa (OHCEA) university network.
The OHCEA university network was founded in 2010 as part of a 5-year USAID-funded project (http://ohcea.org/).It expanded upon a preexisting network of seven schools of public health called the Higher Education Alliance for Leadership through Health (HEALTH), and currently includes 14 public health and veterinary medicine institutions and government ministries in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Uganda (http://halliance.org/).The OHCEA network embodies a One Health approach to collaboration in the area of emerging and infectious zoonotic diseases, and its long-term strategy is to build the necessary skills, knowledge, and One Health attitudes among health professionals and leaders.While the OHCEA network is still relatively young, there are already a number of very relevant lessons learned with respect to university network development and implementation in Africa (D. W. Chapman, A. Pekol, and L. W. Wilson, unpublished data).
1.A benefit of a university network is that it can draw on and mobilize a wide range of talent and address a large number of issues.They are also widely perceived to achieve more efficient and sustainable development outcomes.Nonetheless, it can be extraordinarily difficult to communicate and coordinate activities across different institutions, countries, languages, legal systems, and operating procedures.Such differences may slow the pace of network activities, hinder cooperation, and cause some partners to feel disenfranchised.A strong communication system and an administrative structure that accounts for the strengths and limitations of each member institution are important to keep network activities moving at a steady pace and in a mutually agreeable direction.2. Since university networks can promote collaboration on many issues, narrowing in on a particular issue and approach can require hard decisions and consume a lot of time.Time spent negotiating the organization and governance of the network itself often comes at the expense of making progress on more substantive activities.This can result in the appearance of minimal progress and cause momentum and support to waver.On the other hand, not taking appropriate time for organizational development can limit the strength and sustainability of the network.Emerging university networks must strike a balance between developing a strong administrative structure and implementing a steady stream of network activities early on to keep partners informed and engaged.

Network success depends on having champions at
each member university as well as one or numerous overall network champions.These people are key players in developing support and enthusiasm for the network and projects.While network champions are key to mobilizing interest and pushing agendas, placing too much decision-making authority within a single entity may heighten the perception that resources are disproportionately allocated or exploited.Thus, network champions are important, but they are in a delicate position; there should be checks and balances embedded into the network to support the development of trust and ensure that network decisions reflect the interests, needs, and capabilities of all partners.4. External funding is advantageous in that it can contribute needed resources and make new initiatives possible.However, local institutions and external funders have distinct operating procedures, resources, and abilities and are likely to approach university networks with different priorities and timelines.Whereas local institutions must take a long view and focus on capacity building and creating a sustainable network structure, donor agencies typically need to demonstrate progress on short-term goals.Given their different abilities and priorities, local partners and external funders need to work together early on to establish clear and reasonable goals, indicators, and timelines for the network.Ensuring that member institutions have more input at this stage is also advantageous in that it fosters a greater sense of ownership and increases buy-in for the creation of a sustainable long-term platform.5. Collaboration is most attractive when it is among equals.Each partner wants to benefit from participation in the network, but not all institutions can contribute equally or reap the same benefits.OHCEA partners cite "limited and unequal access to resources" as a major factor for the fair and equitable growth of the network.Reaching an agreement a priori on how each partner can expect to benefit, as well as recognition of individual resources and capabilities, can help reduce competition and improve collaboration efforts across the network.
As outlined above, university networks offer many advantages for governments and universities to collaborate and solve pressing global health challenges.The OHCEA network serves a dual purpose of implementing a One Health approach across Central and Eastern Africa while also strengthening African institutions of ASMscience.org/MicrobiolSpectrumTravis et al.
higher education.While university networks can expand resources and capabilities, they also increase operational complexity.University partners enter networks with different resources, capacities, and constraints, which in turn shape how they participate in and what they expect from the network.Keeping partners informed, represented in decisions, and engaged in activities is necessary for maintaining network momentum and long-term support.The greatest challenge is getting this structure in place in the short term while also maintaining a steady stream of activities and taking steps to ensure the longterm sustainability of the network once short-term external project funding and technical assistance ends.

ZOONOTIC DISEASE PREVENTION AND CONTROL: A ONE HEALTH GRAND CHALLENGE
Zoonotic and emerging infectious diseases pose a significant threat to animal and human health, food security, the economy, and the environment; they even affect the social stability and well-being of entire communities, countries, and geographic regions (10).More than 75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic, with the majority having their origin in wild animal populations.There also is a significant relationship between socioeconomic, environmental, and ecological factors and emerging infectious disease events.Resources for countering disease emergence are poorly allocated on a global scale, with the majority existing in areas where emerging infectious disease events are least likely to occur (11,12).Despite the evidence, a major disconnect remains between human, animal, and environmental health in terms of funding, infrastructure, and general capacity to address this common problem.However, recognition of this problem is growing, and numerous global, regional, and local health organizations are now proactively engaged in fostering One Health approaches, many of them in Africa.
At the global level, the intergovernmental agencies are working at a variety of levels to promote a One Health approach to address the threat of emerging zoonotic disease.The World Organisation for Animal Health (Office International des Épizooties, or OIE) is conducting training and sensitization workshops in Africa at both regional and country levels to help reinforce international standards aimed at many zoonotic diseases (http://www.rr-africa.oie.int/en/en_index.html).Specific activities include systematic assessment of national veterinary services' disease surveillance and control methods and capacity; training country focal persons in disease risk analysis, surveillance, and diagnostics; and building laboratory capacity and disease identification knowledge through a tripartite agreement with the World Health Organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (13).The FAO has long been engaged in Africa and prioritized a number of "pressing needs" for dealing with zoonotic and emerging infectious diseases, including the need for increased veterinary expertise to control zoonoses such as rabies, brucellosis, and echinococcosis; recognition and planning for the utilization of animal disease outbreaks as sentinels for emerging human and environmental health risks; and improvement of the safety of food derived from animals and animal products (14-16).In the past few years, most of the above initiatives have been designed to include public and wildlife health experts-thus increasing their One Health approach to these issues.
The WHO has invested heavily in prevention and control of infectious disease in Africa by supporting implementation of its Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) technical guidelines, which outline reporting recommendations and requirements for diseases of human health concern, many of which are zoonotic.Training is often accompanied by allocation of resources toward diagnostics-based surveillance systems and interventions for high-priority diseases (as defined by WHO member states) (17).Thus, the WHO supports the development of robust disease surveillance systems, connecting local and national governments to regional and global health authorities.Unfortunately, these training and system-strengthening programs rarely include resource allocations for domestic animal and wildlife populations so often fall short as One Health initiatives.As a result, the burden of creating and maintaining such systems typically lies with individual animal producers/ farmers (10,14).This, in turn, results in a significant gap between human and animal disease surveillance systems.The tripartite agreement between the WHO, FAO, and OIE acknowledges this gap, states that these organizations will seek to actively foster One Health efforts globally, and in Africa specifically; and supports linkages, partnerships, and networks to strengthen systems-based thinking and approaches (13).
At the regional level, many One Health initiatives are gaining acceptance after successful proof of concept.For example, the African Union Interafrican Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) was founded in 1951 explicitly to control one of the key animal diseases in the world: rinderpest.Since its initial mandate, the goals of AU-IBAR have expanded to address all aspects of One Health: Lessons Learned from East Africa animal resources (fish, livestock, and wildlife) throughout Africa.It aims to provide leadership in the development of animal resources for Africa "by supporting and empowering the African Union member states and the Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in a vision of an Africa free from hunger and poverty in which animal resources make a significant contribution within the global arena" (http://www.au-ibar.org/about/visionmission-and-mandate).AU-IBAR has a strategic plan for One Health, has conducted several One Health outbreak investigations and trainings, and supported advocacy for a One Health approach to ministerial-level health authorities of most member countries.One specific example is support for the "One Health Training on disease investigation in Wildlife, Livestock and Public Health" (http://www.au-ibar.org/component/jdownloads/finish/25/848, where human, domestic animal, and wildlife health regulatory officials from multiple African countries attend 7-to 10-day workshops focused on learning One Health approaches through integrative case studies and field experiences. At the country level, using Uganda as a case in point, several high-profile, confusing outbreaks of emerging diseases (e.g., Ebola virus, yellow fever, anthrax, trypanosomiasis, Marburg virus, and nodding disease within the past 3 years) have resulted in increased public awareness with increased expectation of effective, proactive government response (18).The yellow fever outbreak in northern Uganda in 2010 did not match expected clinical appearance (lack of marked jaundice in the majority of cases), which prolonged a definitive diagnosis.Nodding disease in northern Uganda has continually frustrated efforts to understand and control the disease.Even in major animal disease outbreaks like the death of hundreds of hippos from anthrax in Queen Elizabeth National Park, submission of samples to the existing laboratories is delayed due to significant challenges with sample collection, cold chain maintenance, and transport from remote locations to laboratories in urban areas that will accept animal samples.As a result, the Ugandan government is promoting multisectoral cross-ministry collaboration in its National Task Force (NTF) for Epidemic Preparedness and Response.Previously called in on an ad hoc basis, and dissolved at the conclusion of an outbreak, the NTF is now a standing entity.The NTF coordinates efforts across ministries and sectors, from local to national levels, and provides a platform to coordinate efforts of intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations, donors, development partners, and other stakeholders from the central level.
The case study of Uganda is not unique, and every African country is faced with similar problems to a greater or lesser extent.Thus, it is imperative that lessons learned are communicated to the broader scientific community.Some lessons from the efforts above: • There is a need for better overall coordination and planning within countries and with external strategic partners and donors.• There is still too much of a focus on short-term issues and needs rather than long-term sustainable solutions.• There is a disconnect between specialized service laboratories and national/regional/global disease surveillance infrastructure.• There is an overreliance on passive versus active surveillance and a general lack of appropriate training and continuing education for diagnosticians.• Marketplace stakeholder demand for services that support surveillance infrastructure is low; incentivizing animal producers, veterinarians, associated industry, local/national/international regulatory authorities, and other key stakeholders to value disease diagnostics and surveillance as good business remains a significant One Health challenge (10).

EAST AFRICAN INFECTIOUS DISEASE ONE HEALTH CASE STUDIES Great Ape Conservation and Zoonotic Infectious Disease Risk
As our closest phylogenetic relatives, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), gorillas (western Gorilla gorilla and eastern Gorilla beringei species), and bonobos (Pan paniscus) share genetic similarities that facilitate the spread of infectious pathogens among humans and great apes (19)(20)(21)(22).Wild great apes can be reservoirs for pathogens that infect humans, such as the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVcpz) that evolved into HIV-1 (23); and can be infected with human-origin pathogens, such as metapneumovirus (24)(25)(26), polio (27), measles (28), and scabies (29).Great apes and humans can also both be infected with pathogens from other wild or domestic animal hosts, such as Ebola virus (30), Cryptosporidium and Giardia (31), and anthrax (32).All great apes are endangered and therefore of high conservation value, making the risk associated with pathogens that pass between humans and apes a concern in both directions (33).
Long-term great ape behavioral research sites established in the 1960s and 1970s to study chimpanzees (in Gombe and Mahale Mountains National Parks, Tanzania, and Tai National Park, Côte d'Ivoire) and mountain gorillas (in Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda) provide compelling examples of the need for and benefits of the One Health approach.Behavioral researchers working at each of these field sites independently observed infectious disease epidemics in their study populations, and analysis of historical data showed that disease was the most common cause of great ape death at several sites (27).The potential for disease transmission among great apes, humans (researchers, tourists, and local communities), domestic animals, and other wildlife was recognized (25,27,28,34,35), and various One Health-consistent responses devised.One Health medical programs, including syndromic surveillance and response systems in apes (36)(37)(38), preventive health programs for conservation and research personnel (39,40), and domestic animal health programs, have been designed and implemented.The expertise developed and results achieved through these programs have helped inform the development of policy guidelines for the continued protection of great ape health in conjunction with growing human and domestic animal populations and increasing demand for ecotourism access (33).The positive impact that holistic human-animal health care can have on a great ape and local human populations has recently been conclusively demonstrated for the mountain gorilla population (41), and data supporting successful implementation of the One Health concept are currently being collected at many other long-term great ape monitoring sites as well.

The Second Successful Global Eradication: Rinderpest
Rinderpest, a morbillivirus, emerged along with the expanding domestic cattle populations some 2,000 or more years ago in Central Asia.Its impact on other artiodactyls only became apparent when it established in Africa with massive die-off of cattle, antelope, and buffalo during the great pandemic in the 1890s.Its impact was catastrophic, and ultimately whole communities starved or lost livelihoods.Control was achieved in a few areas quite rapidly through quarantine, but it persisted in the great nomadic wildlife and cattle herds of East and West Africa throughout the 20th century (42,43).The slow road to eradication started with the advent of an efficacious vaccine developed in Kenya in the 1960s (44), which was immediately implemented in a series of vaccination campaigns.Considerable progress was made initially using these conventional vaccination and control measures, and the disease was reduced to cryptic foci and occasional epidemics.This approach alone, however, was not enough to fully eradicate the disease, and it continued to reemerge, to the frustration of the donors and governments alike, through the '70s, '80s, and '90s (45).
Failure to fully understand the disease ecology and epidemiology in Africa was at the root of this eradication failure.There was little time for research, as each event was usually dramatic and the vaccine was applied immediately, preventing understanding of the diversity of pathogen strains and the multihost dynamics that existed.Rinderpest was considered to be exclusively a livestock problem, and the livestock departments jealously guarded the mandate for control, and thereby the resources and strategies.Ironically, it was only when other disciplines became accidentally engaged in the monitoring and management of the disease, first by wildlife managers in places where rinderpest was also causing an impact (but hitherto hardly acknowledged by veterinary services) (46) and second through the use of participatory epidemiology and paraveterinarians (47) to engage farmers and communities.There was little or no control over these sectors by the veterinary departments, and at first they actively discouraged their activities.This may also have been because the results exposed flaws in the surveillance systems and control measures being applied.The disease was diagnosed regularly among wildlife while knowledge of virus circulation in livestock remained rudimentary.
Reluctantly at first but with growing momentum through the 1990s, wildlife personnel and veterinary ecologists were engaged, and in time this became a highly cooperative activity between the veterinary services, wildlife departments, and communities, with the important result of expanding the surveillance systems and networks and allowing more precise and accurate determination of endemic areas (48).As a consequence, through focal vaccination, rinderpest virus was finally suppressed, with the last outbreak recorded globally affecting buffalo in Meru National Park in Kenya in 2001.The last cattle vaccinations were undertaken in 2003, and no further cases were reported until declaration of global freedom from rinderpest was made by the OIE and FAO in 2010-2011 (49).This success showed how sectors with quite different mandates, but common interests and goals, could collaborate and thereby eradicate a major disease of the animal world for the first time.This was probably the first sig-One Health: Lessons Learned from East Africa nificant achievement from using an intersectoral One Health approach.

Rabies Prevention and Control: the Creation of Science-Based Policy
Rabies is a zoonotic, preventable, neglected tropical disease that, in Africa, has been historically underreported and poorly controlled.One successful model for rabies control has incorporated a One Health approach in the Serengeti ecosystem, Tanzania.In the Serengeti ecosystem, rabies kills humans (mostly children) and domestic animals (dogs, cows) and threatens endangered wildlife species (wild dogs).The Serengeti rabies story is one of hard work from a dedicated multidisciplinary team and can be viewed as a successful example of a One Health project.
In the 1990s, a team of ecologists, veterinarians, public health officials, and wildlife biologists working together in the Serengeti established a ring vaccination program for domestic dogs in the villages around the Serengeti Park.Before the study, it was thought that rabies was uncontrollable in developing countries due to feral dogs and potential wildlife reservoirs (50).Study results show that rabies spills over from domestic dogs to other wildlife hosts (51) and that each rabid animal on average only affects ∼1.2 others; therefore, rabies elimination is feasible through domestic dog vaccination (52).Following ring vaccination of domestic dogs around the park, human bites decreased, as did the incidence of rabid animals in the villages and inside the protected area (53).As a result of data-driven science and long-term commitment and investment from a team of researchers and local health officials, it was acknowledged that it is feasible to eliminate rabies in developing countries.As a result of this study, the WHO, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, chose Tanzania as a rabies eradication demonstration country.
The rabies One Health story in the Serengeti ecosystem can be viewed as a success not only for the impact on rabies control but also for the One Health approach itself.Specifically, (i) the study was strengthenedthrough multi-institutional and cross-sectoral partnerships with local and foreign universities (in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Tanzania), nongovernmental organizations (Lincoln Park Zoo and Frankfurt Zoological Society), government ministries (Tanzania Wildlife Research Institute), and private partnerships (donation of dog vaccines) (54).(ii) Local people were trained at all levels of the research implementation; Tanzanians were employed as staff and Tanzanian masters and Ph.D. students were trained.(iii) Multidisciplinary teams of academics, such as ecologists, veterinarians, modelers, and animal behaviorists, actively engaged in collaborative research.(iv) The research was based on strong surveillance, novel field diagnostics, and integrative information management (55)(56)(57)(58).(v) A long-term commitment was created with long-term monitoring and ongoing implementation of rabies control.An added benefit of this long-term surveillance approach is that new pathogens have been discovered (59), and (vi) there is local buy-in due to education of local communities.
Once field data on interventions were collected, another reason this project was successful is because the research was used to inform policy.This was obtained in three ways.(i) Raw data were published (60,61).(ii) Raw data could be used to statistically and mathematically model cost-effective interventions (62)(63)(64).And (iii) information was relayed back to ministries, the Gates Foundation, and global partnerships (54).Thus, this case study represents an effective holistic approach to complex issues.

A Cautionary Tale: Lessons Learned from the Threat of Pandemic Avian Influenza
Avian influenza subtype H5N1 most likely emerged in China around Poyang Lake after massive development of the domestic and semidomestic duck industry.The first outbreaks involved spillover to people from infected chickens in Hong Kong, and over the next decade there were additional outbreaks in poultry as well as severe disease in migrating wild waterfowl-most dramatically in Qinghai Lake (65).At first, wild birds were assumed to be an important source of viral shedding and global spread of the H5N1 virus.Despite this hypothesis, ecologists and wildlife health specialists were noticeably absent from the discussions regarding disease control and prevention in the first few years following emergence of the highly pathogenic avian influenza strain.As a result, wild bird surveillance was poorly managed and lacked sufficient expertise in species identification and wildlife monitoring (66).This in turn compromised the quality of results and led to misinformation about the role of wildlife in the avian influenza pandemic.
Unfortunately, the focus on the risk of spread via migrant birds deterred officials from focusing on the most important threat-the rapidly industrializing poultry sector in China and Southeast Asia-and acted synergistically with public and media panic (67).In the end, global spread was primarily through the poultry trade, not through wild bird epidemics; the latter burned out quite rapidly, with no spillover to people or poultry confirmed in any country (68).After well over 1 million wild birds were sampled, at considerable cost, no reservoir of infection in wildlife could be confirmed.Africa had major programs internationally funded at both regional and national levels in anticipation of the virus's arrival, focused on preparedness and response to this emerging pandemic.However, it was never found in most of the continent, though there is no doubt that other benefits accrued from this effort.It is a shame that the focus of these programs was so specific that other more pressing disease problems were often ignored.Today, the reservoir for the virus remains within the domestic poultry sector of the Far East, and the endemic focus is largely in the region of its origin, as well as in other regions with similar agricultural ecology to the main endemic zone, including South Asia and Egypt (69,70).

COMMUNITY-BASED ONE HEALTH CAPACITY
The One Health concept is gaining momentum at many levels, partially due to the demonstration of the application of these principles to the control and management of emerging infectious diseases in eastern Africa.The number and depth of networks (Table 1) supported by international agencies and donors to address these issues is testimony to this fact.What remains to be seen is how these efforts translate to the practical implementation of helpful activities at the community level.Many wellfunded international nongovernmental organizations are playing a crucial role in implementing One Health principles in Africa.However, a gap still exists in the support for or recognition of local organizations that may lead One Health initiatives at the community level.Local organizations or civil societies at large offer a comparative advantage over others in that they are made up of people from the relevant culture and are in direct contact with local communities faced with the challenges of concern.In addition, they fully understand and are working with local governments that are quite often not involved in discussions of One Health at national, regional, and global levels.We believe this is a critical area that needs to be recognized and addressed for any effective implementation and sustainability of One Health activities.For example, response to high-profile disease outbreaks such as Ebola and Marburg viruses is often handled largely by international organizations that fly in with the resources needed (such as personal protective equipment and rapid diagnostic tests) and then leave without having built significant infrastructure (the African Field Epidemiology Network [AFENET] is one caveat to this example).In most cases, this marks the end of all activity in this arena until the next outbreak, which will find the local authorities again underfunded and unprepared.Recent interviews conducted in communities affected by these outbreaks reveal a great deal of posttraumatic stress in recovered individuals and affected communities, yet these issues remain largely unaddressed (71).Local organizations with expertise in both science (health, ecology, conservation, etc.) and community-based approaches are critical.For example, two locally created and run organizations, Conservation & Ecosystem Health Alliance (http://www.ceha.co/)and Conservation through Public Health (http://www.ctph.org/), have a programmatic focus in western Uganda at the interface of wildlife, human, and livestock health and conservation issues.They have built strong research and community engagement pillars in conjunction with local governments and a host of external partners.Examples include understanding contact between great apes and humans in nonconserved areas; improvement of canine and public health in multiple urban centers through public education campaigns, rabies vaccination, population control via spay-and-neuter clinics, and external parasite control; as well as tuberculosis and brucellosis household risk factor surveys, domestic animal health surveys, and wildlife surveillance.AFENET (http:// www.afenet.net/new/)has been at the center of epidemiological studies and disease outbreak investigations advocating for a One Health approach, successful outbreak investigation and control studies, as well as training programs such as a Masters of Preventative Veterinary Medicine with Field Epidemiology track, in conjunction with Makerere University, and several short courses in diagnostics and disease outbreak investigation.In the future, these local and regional organizations will be key to a true operationalization of the One Health approach in Africa.
As an example strategy for teaching students to work across disciplines and to encourage appreciation for cross-disciplinary collaboration, a One Health student club was generated and piloted in Rwanda.Students from veterinary medicine, nursing, and agricultural sciences identified the club as a framework they are familiar with, and one in which they could provide leadership and self-driven initiation of activities or projects that not only enhance their learning but also support and provide services to the local community.The students listed numerous ideas for coming together, across their disciplines, to encourage health promotion initiatives One Health: Lessons Learned from East Africa in the community.These included outreach exercises, support for community-based health screenings and outbreak response, and even formation of education teams that could go into secondary-level schools and inform students about the One Health principles and strategies.The students see this club as an opportunity to come together, learn from one another, and practice collaboration in ways they have not previously done through their specialized educational programs.Based on the success of this model, One Health student clubs are currently being formed across East and Central Africa.

THE WAY FORWARD
The challenges Africa faces at the interface of humans, animals, and ecosystems are not simple problems.Rather, these issues are complex and present compelling dilemmas with no simple technical solutions.No individual, discipline, sector, or organization can effectively manage these dilemmas alone; they require the transdisciplinary, integrated systems-based approaches promoted by One Health.Precipitating transformational change in behavior requires a long-term, multifaceted strategy; pan-African adoption of the One Health approach requires a conscious effort to catalyze transformational change.While technology advances may spur transformational change-like the development of the cell phone, which revolutionized communications in Africa-this change was an unintended impact.Precipitating transformational change with intention, i.e., with a clear objective in mind, requires a more strategic approach that involves a series of catalysts such as: • New heroes and compelling stories.Throughout human history, compelling stories of heroes conquering daunting challenges have influenced behavior.One Health needs heroes with compelling stories that serve to provide role models and encouragement for the next generation.• New reward systems.Society consciously and unconsciously rewards certain types of behavior.Celebrating One Health successes and recognizing and rewarding people and organizations that are doing it will speed the adoption of One Health.• New language.A shared language is key to effective communications.Developing a language of One Health will facilitate cooperation and potentiate transdisciplinary, multisectoral partnerships and action.Creating this new language means not necessarily the invention of new words but rather the fostering of widespread shared understanding of key terms and concepts such as "ecosystem," "teamwork," and indeed, "One Health."• Value systems and norms.Value systems underpin societal behavioral norms.Valuing of free speech, for example, sets the stage for the norm of candor and open discussion of various perspectives and opinions.Valuing the core competencies of One Health will expedite adoption of One Health as the new normal.Teamwork is easier to develop within organizational systems when there is clear valuing of the norms of cooperation and interconnectedness.Language should be developed to effectively communicate the norms of One Health to stakeholders and bring relevancy to the concept-One Health can then provide the right language for stakeholders to understand and make it relevant to their systems.• New approaches to education.Education embodies the means for communicating the compelling stories of new heroes, rewarding the desired behavior, teaching the new language, and instilling the value systems and new behavioral norms.Educational institutions committed to training the next generation as change agents require a redesign for "mutual learning and joint solutions offered by global interdependence due to acceleration of flows of knowledge, technologies and financing across borders."Transformed learning will emphasize searching and synthesis rather than fact finding and will manifest itself in achieving core knowledge, skills, and attributes as the primary end point for the learner rather than the credential.

CONCLUDING REMARKS
The One Health approach has special traction in Africa because of the tradition of Ubuntu leadership (72).
When I share the value of my African upbringing, I proudly share the sociological richness of that otherwise (seemingly) harsh rural background.Those conditions of material lack were rich learning environments in many ways.They laid solid foundations for my understanding the value of human interconnectedness, of humaneness, of valuing collective good over individual interests, of the traction of human goodness found in Ubuntu.DUMISANI NDELELE, "The value of the African philosophy of Ubuntu in leadership" The principles of Ubuntu support an African strategy of collaboration.Ubuntu is one of the most resil-ient African wisdoms, grounded in principles and practices of interconnectedness."Ubuntu essentially means that each one of us can only effectively exist as fully-functioning human beings when we acknowledge the roles that others play in our lives.Most Nguni languages in Southern Africa describe Ubuntu as 'umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu' (in isiZulu this means: 'a person is a person through other persons', or 'I am because we are')" (73).
Africans have a thing called 'Ubuntu'; it is about the essence of being human, it is part of the gift that Africa is going to give to the world.It embraces hospitality, caring about others, being willing to go that extra mile for the sake of another.We believe that a person is a person through other persons; that my humanity is caught up and bound up in yours.When I dehumanize you, I inexorably dehumanize myself.The solitary human being is a contradiction in terms, and therefore you seek to work for the common good because your humanity comes into its own in community, in belonging.
DESMOND TUTU, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town

TABLE 1
One Health networks operating in Africa a Note: This is a sample, rather than an exhaustive list, of One Health networks currently operating in Africa. a