Development of K-12 One Health Lesson Plans and Analysis of Kansas WebIZ and Essence Rabies Data

Abstract

One Health is important in approaching and solving many of the complex problems we face at present. For instance, antimicrobial resistance, zoonotic diseases, and global warming are all issues that are complex and require an interdisciplinary viewpoint to approach them. Integrating One Health earlier in a student’s education is imperative in adopting this approach where the health and well-being of humans, animals, and the environment are interconnected. It encourages students to collaborate and embrace this interconnectedness well before entering their undergraduate or graduate studies where topics and majors tend to be siloed. Therefore, the primary focus of my first project with Kansas Department of Health and Environment was developing One Health lesson plans for students in kindergarten through 12th grade, that will be accessible to all teachers on the Kansas Department of Health and Environment website. Furthermore, one complex issue that a One Health approach can be helpful in tackling is rabies. Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease and one that is still prevalent across the globe, especially in developing countries. The US is one example where a One Health approach has proved successful, where the number of human rabies cases are rare. Aspects of this approach that have been deemed successful include rabies surveillance, animal vaccination, and human Post-Exposure Prophylaxis. Hence, the second and third project I was involved in at Kansas Department of Health and Environment focused on analyzing rabies data from PEP administration and animal-bite hospital visits using Kansas WebIZ and ESSENCE surveillance systems. The data obtained from both projects were shared at a vaccination conference and Kansas Department of Health and Environment data and epidemiology presentation to build awareness around rabies within the state of Kansas.