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AMA meeting: Overlap seen in human, animal medicine

Physicians hope closer ties between the disciplines will improve global health.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, amednews staff. July 16, 2007.

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Chicago -- As part of providing care for cancer patients, neuropsychiatrist Carol Tavani, MD, walks the wards of the Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, Del., with a registered therapy dog. Patients have benefited from the canine's presence. But when the animal developed cancer, it benefited from the same technology -- interventional radiology, thoracic surgery and chemotherapy -- used to treat human carcinomas.

"[The dog] is now a cancer survivor seeing cancer patients," Dr. Tavani said.

This example is one of the many connections between human and animal medical care that improve the health of both. In recognition of this intersection and in hope of gaining even more from it, the AMA adopted policy at its June meeting committing to work with the American Veterinary Medical Assn. and calling for more collaboration.

"We can accomplish more to improve health worldwide than we can alone," said AVMA President Roger K. Mahr, DVM.

In addition, the AMA will support joint educational programs between veterinary and human medical schools and cross-species disease surveillance. The organization also endorses the development of diagnostic methods, medicines and vaccines to control diseases that jump species.

"You think of all the diseases that affect us both. There's such a great need for this kind of relationship," said Raymond Dieter Jr., MD, a surgeon.

Meeting attendees said stronger ties were important for several reasons. Knowledge gained from animal medicine can improve human health and vice versa. Most notably, many outbreaks, such as pandemic influenza, originate in animals, and detection of pathogens in various species can be key to tracking and control of outbreaks in humans. Animals are often the source of food-borne outbreaks.

"With threats of cross-species disease transmission and pandemic in our global health environment, the time has come for the human and veterinary medical professions to work closer together for the greater protection of the public health in the 21st century," said AMA Trustee Duane M. Cady, MD.

Monitoring animal health has led to the discovery that certain environmental contaminants, such as lead or mercury, can be unhealthy for humans. AMA President Ronald M. Davis, MD, for instance, is investigating the effect of secondhand smoke on pets. Dr. Davis will be a keynote speaker at the "One Medicine" focus session at the July AVMA convention in Washington, D.C.

The AMA's action is the latest move toward strengthening the ties between those who work on animal and human health issues. The AVMA launched the "One Health Initiative Task Force" in April. The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, which has had veterinarians on staff for many years, also created the National Center for Zoonotic, Vector-Borne and Enteric Diseases, in order to bring experts in animal medicine under one roof.

"The CDC has long embraced this approach," said Abigail Shefer, MD, who represented the U.S. Public Health Service at the Annual Meeting. "Joint AMA and AVMA tactical and strategic planning will greatly enhance public health communications and education."

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