Director's Message
Towards the Control of Zoonoses
Since the 20th century, emerging and reemerging infectious diseases have become of major concern to public health.
Most of these diseases are zoonoses whose causative agents are maintained in their natural host wild animals and occasionally transmitted to other animal species, including domestic animals and humans, causing infectious diseases. Massive deforestation for agricultural land use has increased the interface between the natural and human-made environments. Changes in the environment caused by global warming are affecting the ecology and habitats of various animals and plants. These factors likely contribute to a rise in opportunities for pathogens to jump from their natural host animals to domestic animals and humans, leading to frequent outbreaks of zoonoses. Furthermore, due to increased numbers of international travelers and animal trade associated with globalization and borderless exchanges, there is a growing risk that new zoonotic diseases will spread not only in the areas where they initially occur but also to other areas in the world. The Ebola hemorrhagic fever outbreak in West Africa from 2013 to 2016 and the COVID-19 pandemic that started in late 2019 reaffirmed the obvious facts that infectious diseases have no borders and that international cooperation is essential to overcome them.
Research and education in medicine intend to maintain and improve human and public health, while those in veterinary medicine aim at prevention of infectious diseases and clinical treatment of livestock and pet animals. There are also administrative barriers between medical and veterinary activities under the direction of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, respectively. Thus, there was initially no research, educational, or administrative basis for the control of zoonoses, because it falls between the two sciences, human and veterinary medicine. In order to boost dramatically the level of research and education in zoonosis sciences including studies on host ranges, ecology, transmission routes, and the pathogenicity of infectious microorganisms, prediction of epidemic dynamics, and development of diagnostics, prophylaxis, and treatment, Hokkaido University established the “Research Center for Zoonosis Control” in 2005 with a time limit of 5 years. In 2010, the Research Center for Zoonosis Control was certified as a Joint Usage/Research Center by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan, and the time limit was lifted. The Research Center for Zoonosis Control was designated as World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Zoonoses Control in 2011. Eventually our achievements over the past 16 years have come to be highly appreciated by relevant academic societies, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the Ministry of the Environment, the pharmaceutical, vaccine and diagnostic industries, relevant research institutes in other countries, and international organizations such as the WHO, OIE and FAO. Based on these achievements, Hokkaido University reorganized and expand the institute in 2021, and the International Institute for Zoonosis Control was launched.
The International Institute for Zoonosis Control conducts unique and unprecedented scientific and educational activities by bringing together experts in virology, bacteriology, parasitology, immunology, pathology, molecular biology, structural biology, epidemiology, and computer science, based on medicine, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, engineering, and natural sciences. The institute promotes research and education specially focusing on zoonoses and also conducts joint research with many overseas institutions. In terms of education, in addition to doctoral education at the Graduate School of Infectious Diseases, we provide training programs for domestic and international researchers, graduate students, and laboratory technicians to foster experts in zoonosis control. Zoonoses will continuously occur around the world even after the COVID-19 pandemic is over. We also need to be prepared for new pandemics caused by unknown viruses.
It is difficult to overcome such zoonoses through the efforts of individual scientific fields alone since human, animal, and environmental health are interrelated and influence each other. Under the concept of "One World, One Health," which comprehensively considers all humans, animals, and the environment as one on the globe, we will continue to work on research and education toward the control of zoonoses.
(April 1, 2023) Ayato Takada, Director