Vall d'Hebron organizes a round table on zoonoses at the Healthio Research Day at Expoquimia

What are zoonoses? What are the main zoonoses that affect people in our territory? Is there a risk of introduction of new zoonoses? These and other questions have been addressed today at the round table "Emerging zoonoses in our territory: the importance of a multidisciplinary approach" at the Healthio Research Day, held within the Expoquimia meeting and with the coordination and participation of professionals from Vall d’Hebron.

The aim of the colloquium was to discuss zoonoses, those diseases that are transmitted between animals and humans, from the point of view of medicine, veterinary medicine and biology. It has been coordinated and moderated by Dr. Joan X. Comella, director of the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR); and Dr. Fernando Salvador, associate of the Infectious Diseases Service - Tropical Medicine Unit of the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital - PROSICS and researcher of the Infectious Diseases group at VHIR. In addition, three professionals have also participated as speakers who have provided different perspectives on this type of diseases: Dr. Pau Bosch, associate of the Infectious Diseases Service of the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital - PROSICS, who has given the medical point of view; Dr. Laila Darwich, with her experience as a veterinarian at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB); and Dr. Jordi Serra, biologist expert in reservoirs of emerging viruses at the University of Barcelona.

The session began with a discussion on the effects of the zoonosis that has most affected us in recent months, COVID-19, and the lessons learned for future pandemics. The importance of globalization for the transmission of infections such as SARS-CoV-2 between very distant regions was also analyzed.

One of the main topics of the round table was the concept of "one health". As they analyzed during the session, a disease can affect both humans and animals and it is important to approach it as a whole from different disciplines (medicine, veterinary medicine, biology...), and not as separate parts depending on the organism it affects. This multidisciplinary work is key to help control zoonoses.