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(2) The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the interconnectedness of human, animal, and ecosystem health and the risks posed by the loss of biodiversity on Earth. As recognised by the World Health Organization, many of the same microbes infect animals and humans, so efforts that focus only on human health or only on animal health cannot prevent or eliminate the problem of disease transmission. Diseases may be transmitted from humans to animals or vice versa and therefore need to be tackled in both humans and animals, taking advantage of potential synergies in research and treatments. Approximately 70 % of emerging diseases, and almost all known pandemics, namely influenza, HIV/AIDS and COVID-19, are zoonoses. Those diseases have increased globally over the past 60 years. Changes in land use, deforestation, urbanisation, agricultural expansion and intensification, wildlife trafficking and consumption patterns are factors that have contributed to that increase. Zoonotic pathogens can be bacterial, viral or parasitic, and can include unconventional agents that are able to spread to humans through direct contact or through food, water or the environment. The COVID-19 pandemic is a clear example of the need to reinforce the application of the One Health approach in the Union to achieve better public health outcomes, since, as stated in Regulation (EU) 2021/522 of the European Parliament and of the Council Regulation (EU) 2021/522 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 March 2021 establishing a Programme for the Union’s action in the field of health (‘EU4Health Programme’) for the period 2021-2027, and repealing Regulation (EU) No 282/2014 (OJ L 107, 26.3.2021, p. 1). , ‘human health is connected to animal health and to the environment and … actions to tackle threats to health must take into account those three dimensions’.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-06 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.