Advancing Emergency Preparedness Through One Health Act of 2019 - Summer

Team Members: Carson Ross (Manager), Maya Navabi (Deputy Manager), Mahak Agrawal, Leanne Burns, Rashika Choudhary, Russell Kuhner, Cecilia Magos, Caitlin McGinnis

The emergence of COVID-19 exposed critical gaps in the United States’ preparedness for zoonotic disease outbreaks, despite longstanding scientific warnings about their inevitability. Zoonotic diseases account for approximately 75% of emerging infectious diseases globally and are increasingly driven by land-use change, climate change, industrial agriculture, and wildlife trade, all of which increase contact between humans and animals. H.R. 3771 seeks to address these risks by establishing a national “One Health Framework,” integrating human, animal, and environmental health systems to improve surveillance, prevention, and coordinated response. The analysis highlights how fragmented federal responsibilities and insufficient interagency coordination currently undermine the nation’s ability to detect and respond to emerging pathogens efficiently, leaving both public health and economic systems vulnerable to cascading impacts.

The research finds that the bill’s emphasis on interagency collaboration, data integration, and workforce development could significantly improve early detection and mitigation capacity, reducing mortality, economic disruption, and inequitable health outcomes. Key indicators of success include improved cross-agency communication, earlier identification of zoonotic threats, and strengthened monitoring of environmental and wildlife risk factors. However, implementation challenges include securing long-term funding, managing interagency coordination complexity, and overcoming political resistance to expanded federal roles. Ultimately, the proposed One Health framework represents a proactive shift toward prevention rather than reactive crisis response, recognizing that public health security depends on addressing environmental and ecological drivers of disease alongside traditional medical preparedness.

Learn more about the MPA-ESP Workshop in Applied Earth Systems Management.