The study of the spatial differentiation of COVID-19 in cities and its driving mechanism is helpful to reveal the spatial distribution pattern, transmission mechanism and diffusion model, and evolution mechanism of the epidemic and can lay the foundation for constructing the spatial dynamics model of the epidemic and provide theoretical basis for the policy design, spatial planning and implementation of epidemic prevention and control and social governance. Geodetector  is a great tool for analysis of spatial differentiation and its influencing factors, and it provides decision support for differentiated policy design and its implementation in executing the city-specific policies. Using factor detection and interaction analysis of Geodetector, 15 indicators of economic, social, ecological, and environmental dimensions were integrated, and 143 cities were selected for the empirical research in China. The research shows that, first of all, risks of both infection and death show positive spatial autocorrelation, but the geographical distribution of local spatial autocorrelation differs significantly between the two. Secondly, the inequalities in urban economic, social, and residential environments interact with COVID-19 spatial heterogeneity, with stronger explanatory power especially when multidimensional inequalities are superimposed. Thirdly, the spatial distribution and spread of COVID-19 are highly spatially heterogeneous and correlated due to the complex influence of multiple factors, with factors such as Area of Urban Construction Land, GDP, Industrial Smoke and Dust Emission, and Expenditure having the strongest influence, the factors such as Area of Green, Number of Hospital Beds and Parks, and Industrial NOx Emissions having unignorable influence, while the factors such as Number of Free Parks and Industrial Enterprises, Per-GDP, and Population Density play an indirect role mainly by means of interaction. Fourthly, the factor interaction effect from the infected person’s perspective mainly shows a nonlinear enhancement effect, that is, the joint influence of the two factors is greater than the sum of their direct influences; but from the perspective of the dead, it mainly shows a two-factor enhancement effect, that is, the joint influence of the two factors is greater than the maximum of their direct influences but less than their sum. Fifthly, some suggestions are put forward from the perspectives of building a healthy, resilient, safe, and smart city, providing valuable reference and decision basis for city governments to carry out differentiated policy design. The scientific response to the global novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak (hereinafter referred to as COVID-19) is a major scientific research task in the context of global public health events. It requires a close intersection of the subjects including medicine, geography, management, sociology and economics, and a rapid breakthrough in scientific theories and methods for dynamic surveillance, precise prevention and control, accurate prediction, and effective response to the epidemic outbreak. Major epidemic diseases directly threaten the economic and social development of all human beings. Summarizing and analyzing the spatial-temporal distribution patterns and regularities of infectious diseases ,3, spatiThe development and evolution of infectious diseases are greatly influenced by the environment, so it is essential to figure out the spatial distribution characteristics and driving mechanism of COVID-19, the most serious infectious disease in recent 100 years . Since tThe first is that there is a lack of comprehensive studies with integration of economic, social, and environmental dimensions in spite of abundant research results. The main findings include that Neelon , AnderseThe second is the single research method with insufficient diversity and influenced by covariance and methodological limitations, resulting in a small number of analysis factors and a very insufficient study of the interaction between factors. The existing research results are mainly based on regression analysis methods and linear models, including geographically weighted regression ,25, GeneThe existing research has shown that the unbalanced spatial distribution of COVID-19 is common, but its driving mechanism is still unknown. Different factors vary greatly in their influence on COVID-19 , and it The study area includes 296 cities, excluding Sansha City, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as autonomous prefectures and county-level cities in the mainland . A totalThe 143 sample cities are typically representative from the perspective of cities, infected people, the dead, and the world with 61 of them reporting deaths. From the perspective of cities, sample cities account for about 48% of all in the study area. From the perspective of infected people, sample cities account for about 98% in the study area. From the perspective of the dead, sample cities account for about 86% in the study area. From the perspective of the world, as of 29 March 2021, COVID-19 infections were reported in 214 countries and regions around the world, totally about 130 million, with an increase of more than 500,000 new confirmed cases per day, still in a rapid growth. China’s achievements in combating COVID-19 are leading in the world, and the Chinese experience is of great reference value for other countries in responding to COVID-19. The empirical study on the case of China is typical and representative.China Urban Construction Statistical Yearbook and the China City Statistical Yearbook, with some absent collected from statistical yearbooks, statistical bulletins, government work reports of provinces and cities. The COVID-19 data collected in this paper are as of 29 March 2020, while the others are as of 2019. ② Discrete processing must be performed before running Geodetector, due to the fact that the independent variable data are numeric. To eliminate the human influence, nature breaks are adopted in this paper. Discrete the continuous data of independent variables by Python  and classify the 143 cities into 15 categories (3–17).Based on the research of relevant scholars, this study is mainly divided into three steps and eight key points  36]. Th. Th36]. The COVID-19 epidemic is still not over, and virus mutation is ongoing, resulting in a number of new variants with greater transmissibility, pathogenicity, and high viral load such as Delta and Omicron. However, limited by many factors, this paper did not include them in the research framework for the following reasons: firstly, the research of this paper ended on 29 March 2020, while new high-risk variants such as Delta and Omicron were first discovered and reported in October 2020 and November 2021, respectively, not falling within the study time range; secondly, large bodies of city-scale economic, social and environmental data used in this paper are subject to a fixed cycle for collection and counting, and the latest data available have been adopted in the study; thirdly, new high-risk variants such as Delta and Omicron have aroused great vigilance in all countries, but their impact on China remains to be observed for a longer period of time, as China has effectively controlled the spread and dissemination of the new variant of the virus in the mainland China, thanks to the world’s strictest dynamic zero-case policy and the strict inspection system for all persons and substances entering China. In addition, experts such as Zhong Nanshan, Zhang Wenhong and Zhang Boli believe that China’s rapid response and dynamic zero-case policy can cope with various types of virus variants, and that as long as the whole society takes active measures to prevent and control the epidemic as required by the national and local governments, Delta and Omicron will not have a great impact on China, and the actual situation is largely consistent with the experts’ predictions.The second step is about Data Processing. ③ Use Excel to calculate the coefficient of variation and Gini index of dependent variables and analyze the spatial differentiation level of COVID-19. ④ Import the raw data of the dependent variable and the discretized data of the independent variable into Geodetector software and calculate the analysis results. ⑤ Select the best alternatives in ②, and choose the one with the largest The third step is about Data Analysis. Analyze and discuss the calculation results of ③ and ⑤. ⑥ Determine the strength of the explanatory power of the independent variables according to q-values. ⑦ Analyze the interaction effect between driving factors. ⑧ Average q-values for the independent variables that pass the significance test, calculate the strength of the 3 driving forces, and further reveal the driving mechanism of epidemic risk spatial distribution and its policy implications.Clustering is the process of dividing similar samples into different groups or more subsets by means of static classification or rule set, so that the member samples in the same subset all have similar properties. The standard deviation ellipse is one of the classical methods for analyzing the spatial distribution direction, with the size of the ellipse reflecting the concentration of all elements of the spatial pattern and the declination (semi-major axis) reflecting the dominant direction of the pattern. The elliptical semi-major axis indicates the direction of the data distribution, while the semi minor-axis indicates the range of data distribution. The data will have a more pronounced directionality when there is a larger difference (larger flattening) between the semi-major axis and the semi minor-axis. For the semi minor-axis of the standard deviation ellipse, its shorter length indicates a more concentrated geographical distribution of study objects and a stronger influence of agglomeration and centripetal forces on the spatial pattern ,38. ThisThe spatial autocorrelation index is an important index to measure the potential interconnectedness and dependence of study objects in a region. There are global spatial autocorrelation and local spatial autocorrelation. The former is to describe the spatial characteristics of the attribute values of spatial elements in the whole region and reflect the similarity of their neighboring attribute values, which is of great importance for the analysis and description of the distribution characteristics of a spatial attribute in the whole region; the latter is to calculate and analyze the correlation degree between a spatial object in the region and its neighboring objects, analyze the differences in the local characteristics of the distribution of study objects in space, and reflect the spatial heterogeneity and instability in the local region . The comIn this paper we use the coefficient of variation and Gini coefficient for spatial heterogeneity measures and analyze the influence factors and their interaction effects based on the Geodetector, which was established by Professor Wang Jinfeng in 2010 as a new statistical method to detect spatial heterogeneity and reveal its influencing factors ,43. The http://www.geodetector.cn (accessed on 21 April 2021)), and in this paper the first two functions are used to study the spatial differentiation of COVID-19 in China cities and its driving mechanisms. In other words, factor detection and interactive detection are conducted based on Geodetector with the populations diagnosed as COVID-19 infected and dead as the dependent variables The core idea of the Geodetector is based on the assumption that if an independent variable has a significant influence on a dependent variable, the spatial distribution of the independent and dependent variables should be similar. Geodetector offers 4 functions of factor detection, interaction detection, risk detection, and ecology detection  and dependent variables (COVID-19 infections and deaths). Geodetector has stronger power than general statistics, which is based on correlation, but has a stronger hint of causality. Since it is much more difficult to keep the geospatial distribution of the independent and dependent variables consistent than to keep the consistency of their mathematical modeling curves, in this paper we use the results of the Geodetector analysis to represent the influence of the 15 independent variables on the geographic distribution of COVID-19, with the “factor detector” results used to reveal the direct influence and the “interaction detector” results used to find the synergistic influence.Direct influence reveals that the geographical transmission and spread of COVID-19 infections and deaths are affected by multiple factors, and there is a large difference in the influencing factors and their influence between the two . The resFor the infections, GDP, Area of Urban Construction Land, Expenditure, and Industrial Smoke and Dust Emission have great influence, with For the deaths, the critical influencing factor is Expenditure only, unlike those for the infections, and there is a significantly reduced number of factors. GDP, Number of Hospital Beds, Industrial Smoke and Dust Emission, Area of Green are significant influencing factors, Revenue, Area of Urban Construction Land, Industrial NOx Emissions are accessory influencing factors; Per-GDP, Number of Industrial Enterprises, Population Density, Number of Licensed (Assistant) Doctors, Area of Parks, Number of Parks, and Number of Free Parks have negligible influence. The number of significant and accessory influencing factors is close in the deaths compared to the infections, but their components and forces change considerably.In terms of synergistic influence, factors are in a complex interaction relationship and have a comprehensive influence on the geographic spread and diffusion of COVID-19 . The intSpatial stratified disparities, known as the first law of geography and one of the three basic principles of ecology, is used to analyze geographic phenomena where the variance within spatial layers is smaller than that between layers. This study argues that the spatial distribution of COVID-19 in China’s cities is highly heterogeneous, that is, COVID-19 varies significantly between different cities in China. It is highly concentrated in certain cities, with a high level of “polarization”, and a significant “Matthew effect”, which is in agreement with the conclusion of Cheng . It may There are many driving factors affecting the spatial differentiation of COVID-19, with significant difference in strength and strong interaction between each other, showing a prominent trend of diversification of COVID-19 spatial spread and evolution drivers and complexity of driving mechanisms. Based on the ranking of driving forces of spatial differentiation of COVID-19 patients and death, and the mean value of the forces (0.35), the driving factors are divided into four categories, and then the driving mechanism of spatial differentiation of COVID-19 in China cities is constructed see  with theSome of the findings in this paper corroborate some viewpoints of existing papers. Previous studies have shown that there are large spatial differences in the distribution of COVID-19, and that urban medical conditions, greening and living environment quality, pollution, economic development, and other factors have an undeniable influence on the spread of the virus. This study further confirms these views. As of 29 March 2020, 214 and 199 countries (regions) across the world reported COVID-19 infections and deaths, respectively, with the coefficient of variation at the national scale of 4.20 and 3.82, and the Gini index of 0.87 and 0.88, respectively, suggesting that there is great variation in the global spread and distribution of COVID-19 virus. At the same time, Mizumoto  believesHowever, some results are different or even opposite, and these new findings are of great value to complement and refine the spatial spread driving mechanism and evolution law of COVID-19. The differences are mainly in three areas: first of all, for the economic dimension, Amdaoud , Paez 7, and LinEpidemic prevention policy and medical spatial planning are the most critical policy tools for the government to control the spatial spread and dissemination of COVID-19, and the core work of management, planning, geography, and spatial epidemiology. The driving factors of COVID-19 spatial propagation and evolution are quantitatively large, and the factor forces and interactions are significantly heterogeneous, complex, and dynamic. Therefore, this paper suggests a precise, refined, and differentiated policy design for spatial governance of COVID-19 based on the driving mechanism constructed in the previous sections with reference to the findings of Peleg  and GrzyThe first is to, in line with the ecological civilization construction requirements, increase investment in green space and park construction, make more parks free to citizens, and improve the positive shelter capabilities of public spaces such as schools, gymnasiums, exhibition halls, auditoriums, organize regular exercises and drills to strengthen the emergency isolation and storage capacity of public spaces, and enhance the comprehensive emergency response capabilities for transforming public spaces to treatment and nursing space ,83. FurtThe second is to implement the development concept of healthy and resilient cities, increase financial investment in medical space and optimize the spatial allocation of medical facilities according to supply characteristics and requirements, provide more training and supply for medical workers, expand medical staff and increase hospital beds, and enhance the emergency resilience of medical space and facilities; and implement the concept of smart development, control the size of cities in accordance with the requirements of “tightening up increment, revitalizing the stock and improving the quality”, and strictly control the expansion and spreading of urban construction land to achieve efficient spatial governance based on the findings of Li , Zhou 8 and WangThe third is to implement the development concept of safe cities and smart cities, promote the application of smart technology in urban construction, prepare and implement the specialized plan for urban prevention and control of infectious diseases, establish technical standards for epidemic prevention, treatment, and emergency response, and build a safety control system of “source control + tailing margin” for cities ,92. The Affected by the scale, there is an urgent need to strengthen multi-scale empirical research to develop a precise and scientific epidemic prevention policy for different age groups, social classes, exposure levels, and different realities such as “city closure”, “community closure”, “strict control of overseas import”, “resumption of production and schooling”, based on different scales of geographic units such as countries, regions, cities, counties, towns and communities, and special spaces, and the potentially large differences in the level of spatial heterogeneity of COVID-19 spread and evolution and its driving mechanisms. This paper investigates the spatial heterogeneity of COVID-19 at the urban scale and its driving mechanism based on quantitative analysis and finds that the spatial distribution and spread of COVID-19 are highly spatially heterogeneous, with significant differences in the driving forces and their interactions. It further classifies the driving factors into three categories, stating that Area of Urban Construction Land, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), Industrial Smoke and Dust Emission, Expenditure are the most influential factors; the effect of Area of Green, Number of Hospital Beds, Number of Parks, Industrial NOx Emissions cannot be ignored; Area of Parks, Number of Licensed (Assistant) Doctors, Per-GDP, Population Density play indirect roles mainly by means of interaction.This study not only provides useful reference for China and other countries in the world, such as the United States, India, Brazil, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, and Turkey with more severe outbreaks, to actively explore the COVID-19 spatial distribution patterns, transmission mechanisms and dispersal models, evolutionary dynamics and mechanisms, prevention and control recommendations and countermeasures, and new approaches to spatial governance and policy design, but also offers new ideas and frameworks for the study of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Avian Influenza, Dengue, Ebola, Cholera and other international and regional infectious diseases. The empirical studies based on the ideas and framework provided in this paper can reveal the spatial spread patterns and evolution laws of these infectious diseases and their driving mechanisms, which is invaluable for Middle East and African countries to formulate scientific prevention and control policies, especially with a great value of application for less developed countries such as Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, South Africa, Ethiopia, Nigeria, and Angola, which are suffering from war or virus ravages.There are significant differences in COVID-19 risk and response performance among different cities and countries around the world, as well as factors influencing the spread and geographic distribution of the virus and its prevention and control strategies. The research framework and ideas constructed in this paper can be applied to the analysis of cities in the United States, India, Brazil, Iran and other countries to explain the spatial spread and geographical distribution patterns of COVID-19 and provide a basis for the design and implementation of infectious disease control policies. In addition, there are obvious inequalities between different countries in the dimensions of economic development stage, medical and health conditions, living environment and pollution, which have different impacts on the spatial transmission and distribution of COVID-19 epidemic. With multi-scale empirical studies on different countries, regions, and cities, as well as comparative analysis of multiple cases across the world by multi-methods, GIS and network analysis methods , this paThere are also some deficiencies in our study, which may have a certain impact on the accuracy and applicability of the conclusions. Due to the limitation of data acquisition, comparative studies at different scales and in different time periods are not covered in this paper, and differences in epidemic prevention policies and population attributes between cities are not included in the research framework. In the era of “post-epidemic” or “new epidemic” or even “new-new epidemic”, we call for more international scholars to carry out cross-national multi-scale and multi-time series comparative and empirical studies to get more precise conclusions, to enable policy makers, planners, and the public to fully know the spatial distribution of COVID-19 and its driving mechanisms, and provide a theoretical basis and practical guidance to conquer the virus earlier and create a better life.


Professionals throughout the world have been working to assess the interdisciplinary interaction and interdependence between health and wellbeing in a constantly changing environment. The One Health concept was developed to encourage sustainable collaborative partnerships and to promote optimal health for people, animals, plants, the environment, and the whole planet. The dissemination of scientific discoveries and policies, by working directly with diverse communities, has been one of the main goals for Global One Health. The One Health concept has also been referred or related to as “One Medicine, One Medicine-One Health, One World-One Health, EcoHealth,” and Planetary Health,” depending on each fundamental view and approach. In Latin America, despite the concept still being discussed among health professionals and educators, several One Health initiatives have been used daily for more than decades. One Health action has been applied especially in rural and underserved urban areas where low socioeconomic status, lack of health professionals, and scarcity of medical resources may require professionals to work together. Local communities from diverse social and economic statuses, including indigenous populations have been working with institutions and social organizations for many years, accomplishing results through grassroots movements. These “bottom-up” socio-community approaches have also been tools for the prevention and control of diseases, such practice has preceded the One Health concepts in Latin American countries. It is strongly believed that collaborative, multidisciplinary, political, and economic initiatives with prosocial focus may become investments toward obtaining significant results in the face of global, economic and health challenges; working for a healthier world with inclusivity, equity, and equality. In this study, it is briefly presented how the One Health approach has been initiated and developed in Latin America, highlighting the events and actions taken in Brazil, Chile, and Colombia. The One Health concept is not a new idea. Although historically, there have been times when medical doctors and veterinarians have worked together , it may A scientific and multidisciplinary approach for the health and wellbeing of humans and animals in a balanced environment, which results in the promotion of Planetary Health, showing that everything has been intrinsically connected . Also coThe perception of health in humans and animals and knowledge of their interconnectedness can be long traced to the traditional knowledge of indigenous people in Latin America. Indeed, animals preceded humans in appearing in the territory by tens of millions of years, they have been deeply interconnected to the history of what is Latin America now. Human appearance has profoundly affected and shaped the health and life of native American animals, which subsequently led to a long history of the increasing human impact: from the Paleoindians, who may have caused the extinction of several Latin American megafauna species, to the Columbian Exchange that brought exotic species from the Old World, such as horses, cattle, sheep, dogs, domesticated American native species including turkeys, llamas, and alpacas, which brought extinction to several native American species. In such a similar dynamic scenario, animals have also influenced human history in an adaptive and interdependent human-animal relationship in Latin America .Montenegro and Stephens  have thoIndigenous populations were neither static nor peaceful. Survival depended on war systems, different weapons, and food strategies. Health and wellbeing were intrinsically connected to sophisticated knowledge acquired through centuries regarding the balanced use of local ecosystems. European invasions changed the culture, inter-ethnic, and ecological relationships of natives. Health was also affected by new infectious diseases. For centuries, since the time of their colonization, conquest, or occupation, indigenous populations of tropical coastal environments suffered the most from illness and poverty. The Central Andes had a demographic collapse similar to the Bubonic plague epidemic in Europe in the 14th century. Later, such native populations have been affected by the continuous spread of diseases, habitat fragmentation, and land occupation associated with the lack of modern health care and infrastructure.Although the use of animals in conventional medicine has been comparatively recent, a meta-analysis of historical and archaeological evidence indicated that animals have been used in traditional medicine in Latin America since ancient times. This was considered a “faunal drugstore.” Animals, mostly wild species, were used as both raw materials for clinically prescribed therapies, and as amulets and charms in native magic-religious rituals and ceremonies . Plants Nowadays, many indigenous people still living within isolated environments have been constantly destroyed by non-sustainable agriculture and exploratory business, leading to harsh economic conditions, higher morbidity, and health risks. These populations have been connected and highly dependent on their local ecosystems for survival. Despite the accumulated knowledge and holistic understanding, One Health has much to learn about the early times of native Latin America, as the natural environment deeply influenced indigenous life, culture, and history.In 2010, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and WHO collaboration officially established the One Health Tripartite . In addiOnly in June 2021, at the 168th Session of the Executive Committee that the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has included One Health in the official agenda, as a “comprehensive approach for addressing health threats at the human-animal-environment interface” and prioritizing endemic diseases of zoonotic and vector-borne origin, emerging, and reemerging infectious diseases of zoonotic origin, antimicrobial resistance, and food safety . HoweverThe PAHO proposed analysis and mapping of health interactions in specific national contexts, the establishment of One Health governance, strengthening multidisciplinary and intersectoral aspects, emergency preparedness and response, digital technology and scientific tolls, research, and capacity building as strategies in accordance with Agenda 4.6 One Health of the General Strategic Plan of PAHO for 2020-2025 with an estimated budget of the US $1 million per biennium . In thatOne Health history and development in the last decades in Brazil, Chile, and Colombia have been summarized and presented by timelines of each country  in Jaboticabal, northeast São Paulo state, Southeastern Brazil, have performed animal and public health outreach in rural communities which would later be regarded as One Health. Students accompanying community health agents assessed health risk factors related to the interaction between humans, animals, and the environment in homes and surrounding areas with attention to the main zoonoses as determinants of the health and disease processes in their ecosystems. Educational actions were applied, mainly, in primary and secondary schools with an expectation that children were the messengers for their parents and their behavior to be changed. All of these activities generate research for postgraduate studies.The One Health movement in Brazil was officially introduced and recognized in 2007 when Dr. William B. Karesh, a wildlife veterinarian from the Bronx Zoo of New York, EcoHealth Alliance, and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) led the first One Health Symposium in Brazil, introducing the theme “One World, One Health” in which wild animals act as important reservoirs and sentinels of diseases that affect human health being correlated with environmental destruction. In 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Brazilian professionals collaborated with a Leptospirosis research study through the One Health approach in Northwestern Brazil. In December 2012, the concepts of One Health, EcoHealth, and Zoobiquity were introduced in Brazil by one of the authors of this study (CPB), who is also a zoo and wildlife veterinarian, by initiating and promoting One Health and spearheading official postgraduate research interdisciplinary programs among national and international academic institutions.The Veterinary Public Health and Biotechnology (VPH Biotec) Global Consortium launched the “International Congress on Pathogens at the Human-Animal Interface (ICOPHAI).” The first edition occurred in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 2011, and the second ICOPHAI was held in Porto de Galinhas, Brazil in 2013 to discuss issues related to zoonotic infectious diseases worldwide and thematic areas that necessitate One Health implementation in Latin America .Sistema Único de Saúde” – SUS). By this time, the One Health concept was neither widely known nor advertised nationwide. Similarly, “The One Health Summer School Brazil”, which started in 2013, focuses on topics of infectious diseases, food safety, and public policies as part of an international collaboration between the School of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences at Unesp, Prefeitura de Botucatu/SP, and the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Postgraduate training was developed through international collaborations.Since 2012, many One Health events have been officially established in several states and cities in Brazil. Most of the One Health events in Brazil were neither known nor advertised nationally or internationally. The Universities already had interdisciplinary outreach programs with One Health, such as approaches working directly with rural and diverse communities through the Unified Health System (“Centros de Excelência de Saúde Única”) as a result of a 2014 One Health Fulbright Scholar and Ambassador Awards, spearheaded by one of the authors of this manuscript. The original Centers of Excellence at the time were held in the states of Bahia, Pernambuco, Minas Gerais, Rondônia, Pará, Roraima, and Mato Grosso do Sul. A successful example of these “grassroots” community and One Health approach movements through “Centros de Excelência de Saúde Única” occurred on March 5, 2015, with the First One Health Bahia Symposium held in Porto Seguro with attendance of more than 150 health professionals from different areas and institutions. Infant microcephaly that was possibly associated with the ZIKA virus was presented through the One Health concept by Brazilian physician infectologist, Dr. Antonio Bandeira, working together with Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (FIOCRUZ) and Hospitals. Similar activities involving directly community leaders were developed in these Centers of One Health.In 2014 and 2015, many actions were carried out in Brazil that contributed to the spread and application of the One Health approach in the country and Latin America. The first One Health Workshop was hosted in Minas Gerais State, Southeastern Brazil with national and international One Health experts . In the Meanwhile, members of the One Health Brazil Latin America Association presented their work at the One Health Forum in Davos, Switzerland at the third Global Risk Forum One Health Summit 2015 , and at The “One Health Brazil Latin America Association” became an official member of the World Veterinary Association (WVA) in 2015. The association included Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Chile collaborators. Eventually, pioneer members from the Brazilian institutions reorganized and created the One Health Brasil with a purpose to unite, collaborate, organize, and centralize a sustainable multidisciplinary network of One Health, EcoHealth, and Planetary Health in Brazil.After that, other important initiatives have been promoted, mainly by universities and professional associations like the 52nd Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine Congress, held in Maceió, Northeastern Brazil in 2016. On this opportunity, the subject “Challenges for human and animal health in transforming ecosystems in a One Health perspective” was widely discussed.LeishNão Project: A One Health approach for visceral leishmaniasis prevention in an endemic area in Brazil” by Galhardo et al. , and the World Medical Association (WMA), receiving several Global One Health Awards in 2016–2017. The “o et al. , “One HeIn February 2017, the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) group from the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), using the One Health approach, organized the round table, “Current state of Antimicrobial Resistance in Brazil and the United Kingdom,” together with the UK Science and Innovation Network and the School of Life Sciences of PUCPR. They invited 40 high-level experts from the government, academy, and private companies from the UK and Brazil to discuss the global and Brazilian state of AMR. As a result of this round table, several suggestions were made to improve the fight against AMR within the International Global Plan to fight AMR. In addition, the One Health Commission of the Regional Veterinary Council of Paraná State (CRMV-PR), a pioneer at the National level, was formed in April 2018 to fortify Veterinary Medicine in maintaining public, animal, and environmental health under the context of One Health. In 2019, through the State Commission for One Health, a partnership was established between the Federal and the Regional (PR) Council for Veterinary Medicine, and the first International Symposium on One Health was held, addressing zoonoses, disasters, mental health, and AMR. At the opening of the event, a term of commitment was signed between government entities, PUCPR, and the Regional Council to work in One Health. Thus, the School of Life Sciences (PUCPR), in 2019, changed all the matrices of its undergraduate courses, thus starting with One Health disciplines common to all courses.After 2017, Federal and Professional Associations  have collaborated by disseminating the concept of One Health. The Preventive Medicine and Public Health sectors have always covered aspects of preventing and maintaining the health and wellbeing of animals and, by extension, of human beings. The conservation and preservation of the environment have shown great global interest in health and only in the last decades, with the new emerging diseases, and many enzootic epidemics have been proven to be associated with an imbalance in nature, destruction of habitats, and wild and domestic animals that were sentinels or reservoirs of new epidemics. An example of applying the One Health approach in endemic regions can be seen during the biggest epidemic of Yellow Fever in Brazil, which occurred in the years 2017 and 2018 due to a new cycle wave aggravated by mosquito-borne spreading, habitat encroachment, and exposure of the unvaccinated population. This occurred after almost 80 years of eradication in urban settings by vaccination in 1942. The fatality of wild primates during the epidemic demonstrated the importance of animals as sentinels for human health and the destruction of the environment associated with the reemergence of various zoonotic diseases  in the last years. This international campaign co-coordinated by the One Health Initiative, the One Health Platform Foundation, and the One Health Commission aims to bring awareness to the need for One Health interactions around the world. In 2018, an event organized by students from the Federal Rural University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRRJ) was one of the winners of the One Health Day Student Event Competition Award. The “One Health Day at UFRRJ” brought professionals from different health and environmental-related fields together to sensitize attendees from different backgrounds about the indissociable connection between human, animal, and environmental health. In the last years, similar educational events were held on a local, regional, and national level in Latin America, reinforcing the need for a multidisciplinary approach in many of the contemporary and future challenges.From 2016 to 2021, other independent health groups continued in formation throughout Brazil and Latin America, such as courses and disciplines. The “1st National Meeting on One Health,” in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais State, Southeastern Brazil supported by the Federal University of Minas Gerais and Federal Council of Veterinary Medicine (CFMV) aimed to disseminate the concept “One Health,” its challenges, policies to professionals in the medical, veterinary, and environmental fields. Most of the One Health groups and events in Brazil initially concentrated on wildlife medicine, species preservation, environmental conservation , and emerging infectious diseases in Brazil and Latin America. Many groups focused on sustainable agriculture, agroindustry through the One Health approach, AMR, Food Safety, theater and arts, education, anthropology, and animal and human health, while others focused on comparative medicine and human-animal bond and wellbeing. Several professionals participate in these interdisciplinary partnerships, such as medical doctors, veterinarians, nurses, agronomists, nutritionists, psychologists, historians, anthropologists, statistics, biologists, dentists, conservationists, engineers, artists, and dancers.Research groups in Brazil have also been applying One Health as a practical tool to solve problems such as zoonoses in different populations and their contact animals, taking advantage of the SUS, which allows comprehensive human-animal sampling. In such scenarios, wild boars, hunting dogs, and hunters have been surveyed in Brazil for vector-borne, waterborne, and foodborne diseases, for the first time worldwide . MoreoveThe increase in the demand for qualification due to the requirements of the labor market has led health, agriculture and environmental professionals to increasingly seek a differential in their academic training with Higher Education Institutions. This fact was specially related to the insertion of different health professional categories, starting from the enactment of Law No. 8,080 of September 19, 1990  in the aFurthermore, the experience of interdisciplinary teaching, research, and extension of Environmental Health at the School of Nursing at Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo (SNRP-USP), began four decades ago in the training of clinical nurses. The history of this curriculum development had moments of coming and going, resulting from the institutional didactic and methodological options and trends. However, it took shape and acquired greater consistency over time despite the difficulties imposed by the traditional teaching model centered only on disciplinary practices and the hospital-centered care model. From the 1980s onward, there were important national movements with changes in health care proposals in Brazil, culminating in the promulgation of the new national constitution (1988) and strengthened by the Primary Health Care model and the SUS in 1990. The creation of an Interinstitutional Group for Studies and Research in Health Service Wastes (IGSRHSW) was strengthened by an interdisciplinary character, composed of professionals from different areas of knowledge and educational institutions, services and assistance in health, environment, sanitation, engineering, economics, and administration focused on Environmental and Planetary Health. Concomitant to the formation of this group, the Environmental Health Laboratory was created, in which an action project was established in the teaching, research, and extension to the community. Academic works were generated, including thesis, dissertations, scientific articles, manuals, books, and book chapters, among others, also offered to graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, opportunities for exchanges with relevant international institutions. Currently, the teaching of Environmental Health at SNRP-USP has been inserted in the teaching practice, in an interdisciplinary way and focused on One Health, through the proposal of building healthy and sustainable environments, aiming at training nurses and other professionals of the future for a globalized world.In addition, since 2017, the class “One Health: Human, Animal, and Environment” has been offered to undergraduate students at the Federal University of Minas Gerais - UFMG, covering theoretical and practical aspects that include field visits in public parks and zoonosis control services in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais.As previously mentioned, the introduction of the One Health concept in postgraduate education in Brazil was introduced, which was derived from the American term “One Health” and the interdisciplinary approach. The integrated and transdisciplinary training among professionals was brought to the fore among the professors of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE), which was the utmost need to create and offer a outreach program that would meet the demands required by local communities and by the professionals working together in the Pernambuco State, Northeastern Brazil. Some professors realized in recent years, especially between the period of 2015 and 2018, that students entering postgraduate courses did not have the profile for training in graduate courses at the academic level because the vast majority of them already had employment in a public institution or private company linked to the health, agriculture or environment field, and were often interested in graduate programs mainly to update their knowledge and improve their performance in their professional fields or by their own need for changes in the field of activity in the companies in which they already operated.In addition to this perception and concern from the professors, and due to the lack of a specific postgraduate program in One Health in the city of Recife, capital of Pernambuco State, the Professional Master's degree in One Health from UFRPE began to be designed and idealized by some professors, who took over the elaboration of the proposal, in the field of preventive veterinary medicine in the Department of Veterinary Medicine. However, since this department did not have enough professors who would meet all the demands of the minimum program content necessary for the training of students, other professors from other departments of the Federal Rural University of Pernambuco (UFRPE) and other institutions, namely, the Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE) and the Federal University of Agreste of Pernambuco (UFAPE), were invited to collaborate. In addition, considering practical experience and experience in management and administrative positions, professionals from public institutions, such as the State Health Secretariat of Pernambuco, were also invited to compose the teaching staff and contribute to the training of professionals in the field of One Health.Based on this demand raised by UFRPE, coordinating professors of the developing proposal have scheduled meetings with the various segments and institutions linked to the One Health field, such as municipal and state health departments and the Agricultural Defense Agency of the State of Pernambuco. The Defense Agency, in particular, readily showed interest and positively signaled support for the creation of a postgraduate course in the One Health field in addition to raising actions among their staff. This was done for training and updating, given the growing demands and needs from society for joint action of quality by the professionals who make up the staff of the respective companies. Thus, the implementation of a professional master's course in the field of? One Health at UFRPE was a demand needed not only by veterinary medicine professionals and other health professionals, given the different possibilities of performance in the professional market, but also by the society itself. This was done for technically qualified professionals to meet their needs, as food consumers and users of different health services, related to health surveillance, a better quality of life, animal health defense, environmental health, and primary health care.Currently, the accredited professional master's degree in One Health at UFRPE has two lines of action and/or intervention called Surveillance and Primary Health Care and Epidemiology and Health Planning. Teaching staff formed by veterinarians, an economist, a dentist, a speech therapist, and, occasionally, professionals from other areas were invited to interact with the students, among which included social workers, nurses, physiotherapists, veterinarians, an administrator, a pharmacist, biologists, educators, among other professionals, who develop intervention projects in their institutions of origin, whether public or private, in the field of health, agriculture, and environment, related to health education, control of communicable or non-communicable diseases, water, food, management, processing of epidemiological data, AMR, among others at the intersection human, animal, and environment.The design of shared disciplines at the post-graduate level by applying the Collaborative Online International Learning concept has also been an initiative to promote One Health among different professionals in Brazil and other countries . The FedOutreach projects in higher education institutions also support the promotion of One Health among faculty, scholars, and communities in Brazil. An interdisciplinary team from UFES, recognizing the importance of training professionals in the One Health approach, created an outreach project entitled One Health ES in 2020, which involves faculty, professionals, and undergraduate and graduate students of different areas, such as medicine, veterinary, nutrition, pharmacy, biology, biomedicine, and dentistry. Periodically, the group meets to debate publications involving One Health and to plan and develop projects to be implemented in the community aiming at the health promotion and the prevention and control of diseases by applying the One Health concept, such as publication of informative material in social media. One Health ES also organizes webinars with invited experts, improving the network for further projects. The team also conducts research using this approach working directly with communities, which has been promoted in the social media of One Health ES. The engagement in the interprofessional actions, with collaborative participation of the entire team, highlights the promising impact of this initiative in the public health system and biodiversity in Brazil.In Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil, the Post-Graduate Research Program (PPG) of the Federal University of Viçosa has been a program of international research partnerships with the University of Washington and The Paul Allen Global Animal Health at the Washington State University, the USA with an official dual Doctor of Science and PhD. The UFV/UW/WSU One Health interdisciplinary post-graduate partnership program continues to support sustainable collaborative research projects in One Health approaches as well as hosting exchange of professionals, students and visiting scholars.During the COVID-19 pandemic, veterinarians in the Residency Program at UNESP Jaboticabal have been working directly in Public Health on different fronts of action both in Epidemiological Surveillance and Primary Health Care, as well as in the Coronavirus Service Center, performing telemonitoring of suspected patients. In parallel, two research projects have been developed: “Seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in the municipality of Jaboticabal - SP: serial serological surveys” and “Molecular diagnosis of patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the municipality of Jaboticabal - SP: use of a safe and low-cost protocol.” Also, due to a departmental reorganization at the School of Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences, a Department of Pathology, Theriogenology and One Health has been renamed, demonstrating that One Health should be accepted as a reality that involves all disciplines related to animal health and global health, in the interface with the environment, including One Health in the curriculum, outreach, and research.As regional One Health groups were created, mainly through articulations in favor of research opportunities, but also for specific events, university professors and post-graduate students from different professional programs established a small online community in 2016 using the mobile platform, WhatsApp that would have become the most popular in Brazil and several countries. They established this community, the One Health Brasil Network, together with leaders and members of the One Health Brazil Latin America Association and several other One Health commissions and groups from all over Brazil. Initially, such a network aimed at simply sharing contacts and general information, intuitively associated with the themes of One Health, EcoHealth, and Planetary Health, from newspaper and scientific academic articles, policy reports, manuals, and regulations to advertise lectures and world events related to One Health.Growing “organically,” especially from the outreach promoted by its members at symposia and conferences, the community began to face one of the great challenges of a community-based organization: effective communication. Often, the dialogical space was taken by manifestations that, although relevant, clearly diverged from the One health approach and, often, conveyed ideological positions and political readings of governmental programs and actions. With the recurrence of circumstances impairing constructive and collaborative dialogue, the necessity of a group management committee became clear. This management committee then started monitoring the posts and, whenever necessary, intervening to preserve the focus on One Health and, as much as possible, the predominance of collaborative attitudes.Ecossistemas Aquáticos: Saúde animal, humana e Ambiental), an interdisciplinary subdivision applying One Health, EcoHealth, Planetary Health, and wellbeing of all lives in aquatic ecosystems.In 2019, the management committee decided to create a website to what was already called the Rede One Health Brasil network , as a prIn 2020, through the One Health Brasil network, investigators from different regions of Brasil received a CNPq Research Award  and have been leading the first SARS-CoV-2 research in pets in Latin America. Results have been notified to OIE-WOAH, peer-reviewed articles have been published, and education through media and internet tools have been emphasizing the importance of veterinarians as essential professionals in human health, animal welfare, and the prevention and control of pandemics through One Health.Una Salud Chile) including national universities and public services  wanted to provide education in civil society and directly in the communities, working and consolidating the resilience of the villages within Santiago. On December 4, 2018, the director of CIACHI was appointed spokesperson for Central and South America at the One Health Platform and the director of One Health Commission connected the founders of OHLAIC. The activities grew exponentially throughout the year in Chile with the participation and support of the Education and Science Foundation. The First One Health Seminar on Emerging and Re-emerging Diseases was held in Valdivia, several One Health workshops in schools, and a Scientific Fair at Higher Institute of Commerce were carried out . FurtherThe main purpose of the National One Health Network (ReNOH) has been to connect all One Health groups in Chile to work based on local, national, and global objectives, including researchers and university students working in the same areas from all regions of the country. It is currently incorporating high school students and civil society, bringing the concept to schools and civic associations such as neighborhood councils or fairs.The expansion of ReNOH has been a work in progress and discovery of new activities, in this context. Their main objectives have been to educate in One Health concepts and strategies, reaching the most remote and vulnerable communities . The maiRed Salud Pública Veterinaria” (SPVet). The SPVet network was created following a recommendation made at the First Meeting of Veterinary Public Health held in Bogotá (Colombia) in 2003 under the auspices of the Representation of PAHO-WHO. Organizations and Universities participating in this meeting included the National University of Colombia, Antioquia University, and the District Secretary of Health. During this meeting, an important dialogue related to food safety, prevention of zoonoses, poor public perception of the role of veterinarians in the wellbeing of the community, low importance of veterinary public health in higher education, and absence of guidelines for professional practices and the consequent fragmentation of the agricultural sector in the decision-making regarding the health system and the social and economic development of the country was held. The objectives of the SPVet network were the following: (1) maintaining a continuous and timely flow of information on veterinary public health topics, (2) strengthening ties of cooperation and support among specialists, create a space for discussion and consultation on topics of national interest as international, and (3) contributing to the strengthening of undergraduate and graduate academic activities in veterinary public health , a series of projects co-financed under the EU ALFA program, aimed to support an international network constituted by Faculties of Veterinary Medicine from Latin America and Europe. The projects have envisaged a series of objectives and activities aimed to promote and enhance research and training and intersectoral collaboration across Latin America and Europe. Project partners use a mail-list and distance learning platforms  to organize educational activities. Major results so far achieved have included the harmonization or development of a common curriculum, the creation of common modules on selected VPH topics, and that new teaching methodologies were used for a common training program on VPH, delivered via the Internet, using the problem-solving approach based on case studies. Challenges were experienced as a result of poor and unreliable internet connections. The use of modern communication and teaching methods in combination with written and theoretical material enabled lecturers and students at the universities involved to test, in some cases, for the first time, a problem-solving approach and a modular teaching structure in virtual format of real situations. The adoption of this innovative, flexible, less teacher-dependent mode of learning has played a key role in the activities of the network  exchanges of professors and researchers and coordinating meetings, participation in and organization of seminars, congresses, and conferences at the National and International level, and the publication of scientific and popular articles were used. The SAPUVETNET didactic tools have been tested and used by partner faculties and universities and other institutions. Didactic material can be freely circulated and distributed, used for distance learning, and be adapted to the local context of any country or geographical area, even outside Latin America and Europe   publishing academic material, (ii.) promoting the One Health concept through participation and organization of local symposiums, (iii.) institutional cooperation with the National Health authorities such as the Zoonoses Integral and Integrated National Program funded by the Colombian Ministry of Health and Pan American Health Organization, and (iv.) formation of undergraduate students within the igators) , 40.Another important network applying the One Health approach not only in the academic field but also in general communities is the University of Córdoba in Monteria, northern Colombia. This University constituted the One Health Colombia Network (OHCol Network) being recognized nationally and internationally by One Health Commission (USA) and the International Student One Health Alliance (ISOHA). This Institution held the first One Health Colombia International Symposium in 2018 and the second One Health Colombia International Symposium in 2019. The OHCol Network has been accredited as an official member of the interdisciplinary alliance for research and international collaborative training with the Schools of Medicine and Global Health, and the One Health Research Center (COHR) at the University of Washington, USA, and have been developing curricula and outreach programs to train students and professionals with the global vision of One Health, EcoHealth, and Planetary Health approaches for conservation and human, animal and environmental health among the underserved minority communities. Colombian health professionals working with research and community leaders through the One Health approach were also members of the original One Health Brazil Latin America Association which has been officially a member of the World Veterinary Association since 2015.Since 2018, the One Health Colombia Network has held 18 “One Health and Wellness outreach sessions” in different rural and underdeveloped regions. More than 1,200 animals of several species have been evaluated, vaccinated, vitaminized, and dewormed. In addition, more than 7,000 people of all ages have received medical care and educational teachings in prevention health and welfare. These outreach sessions follow a human-animal-environmental interface methodological strategy based on Human Health activities, Biodiversity, and Economics Health . From 20Uniagraria) located in Bogotá, v. CES University, Medellín, and vi. the National University of Colombia, located in Medellín and Bogotá.Under the COVID-19 pandemic, several Colombian public health research groups have published about the importance of the One Health Approach in the emergence of newer zoonotic infections like SARS-CoV-2 , 43. AutOne of the most significant contributions from the Colombian National Health Institute was the launching of the One Health Zoonotic Disease Prioritization workshop (OHZDP) in Bogotá in August 2019, based on the methodology developed by the CDC USA and Colombia .In November 2019, the second International One Health Symposium held by the One Health Colombia and leaders from One Health in Latin America countries  signed a One Health Latin America Manifest for mutual understanding committing to work collaboratively and synergically within the One Health Latinoamérica, Ibero y el Caribe network (OHLAIC) .Saúde Única, Salud Unica, Une Seule Santé) and “Health One” , may be interchangeable in such languages.Despite the adaptation of an English-speaking concept of One Health to Spanish, Portuguese, or French of most Latin American countries, the majority of terms can be easily translated due to their link to basic words describing almost the same health issues. However, Latin languages accept the switch of substantive-adjective. For example that “One Health”   and the Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, tuberculosis, malaria, yellow fever, influenza A(H1N1), West Nile Virus, Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya, and SARS-CoV-2, have been examples in which animals, humans, and the environment have been intrinsically related. In these cases, animals were also victims of the emerging infectious diseases transmitted by vectors being sentinels for human health and a sign of an imbalance in the environment, especially by habitat destruction due to deforestation or pollution. In addition, emerging or neglected zoonotic diseases, such as hantavirus pulmonary syndrome, leptospirosis, trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease caused by Trypanosoma cruzi and other species), brucellosis, hanseniasis, treponemas, and leishmaniasis arose when human beings have invaded forest region, increasing the contact between people wild animals who might act as pathogen reservoirs. A better understanding of the type of contact between human and animal populations (domestic or wild) has been fundamental for modeling how zoonotic infections will emerge and spread. The emergence of several unidentified species of new pathogens in Latin America and co-infection with Bartonella, Ehrlichia, and Rickettsia as possible etiologic agents of anthropozoonoses and zooanthroponoses, and related diseases in pets, livestock, and wildlife have intensified the interest in neglected and emerging pathogens.To further develop the One Health concept, we must consider taking into account the accelerated advances in science and the globalization of our economies. This has been important because about 75% of emerging infectious diseases have been shared between humans and domestic and/or wild animals. Emerging zoonotic diseases that affect Latin American countries today result from interactions between natural and human-animal-plant systems. Infectious agents, such as Zika, dengue, hanseniasis, leptospirosis, leishmaniasis, yellow fever, parasitic and other neglected diseases in Brazil, and the complex nature of emerging zoonotic diseases demonstrated the need to strengthen even more interdisciplinary training and partnerships elucidating the concept of One Health in Latin America and support the work with indigenous tribes and underprivileged communities. As a result of collaborative efforts supported by Latin America's One Health, networks have developed and organized national teams for disasters preparedness through One Health. On February 11, 2021, Latin American representatives from the WHO contacted the One Health Brasil network executive members to collaborate in the submission of a proposal for the importance of One Health in Pandemics, Food Safety, Food Security, and Bioterrorism.The emergence and spread of diseases with sustained transmission from person to person have long hit humanity, representing challenges for science and public health, worldwide. Changing natural environments can modify the balance between species, increase contact between them and establish human-animal bridges. Other activities, such as wildlife trafficking, incorrect use of soil or water, urbanization without sustainability, habitat destruction, lack of basic sanitation, fires and deforestation, and the absence and/or breaking of health protocols can also contribute to the emergence of new diseases. Although governments have been responsible for public health policies, the multifactorial character in the emergence of pandemics means that the responsibility for controlling those that have been occurring, and for preventing new ones from arising, be that of all professionals, or future professionals, and of citizens living in a community. It has been the role of collaborative efforts to promote discussions and generate and disseminate knowledge, fulfilling their role in the training of professional citizens, since only knowledge can lead to changes in habits and behaviors of individuals and society.One of the challenges, foremost, in the academic scientific world is to understand the importance to work together equally with the native and minority populations of Latin America by listening to what these ancient cultures have to teach the scientists and not vice versa. Politics, years of lack of trust built among conflicting cultures, excessive bureaucracy and biased government policies from these countries interfere with collaborations and research partnerships to be developed. The One Health approach creates a unique effort to promote Unity in Diversity, cultural coexistence, human-animal-plant-ecosystem harmony, and spiritual universal values. Their Unity in Diversity concept that we share the same sky, walk the same Earth, breathe the same air, and that we are a single family might bring resolution for successful partnerships in a more holistic health vision. This unity is the essence of life from ancient civilizations and indigenous peoples which must be learned, as animals and the natural environment have deeply influenced indigenous life, culture, and history, in an adaptive and interdependent relationship throughout Latin America.The recent experience of Latin America with COVID-19 has demonstrated the importance of a more interconnected world through cooperative and less competitive collaborations. One Health may be the way for preventing future pandemics and health disparities instead, focusing on health equity, environmental and economic sustainability. Not surprisingly, through One Health initiatives, veterinarians with all professions have been associated at the front response of COVID-19 pandemics. One Health may represent the main future strategy and basis for preventive actions requesting veterinarian leadership, as potential unknown animal pathogens may still become emergent in human beings , 54. LatThere were some limitations to this review. Primarily, the review has relied mostly on personal knowledge of authors and search of main selected events instead of a formal “One Health” systematic review, a relatively new concept word in Latin America which would fail to provide a comprehensive search of both indexed and non-indexed studies, experiences, and events. Although the authors have focused the review on only three Latin American countries, such an international approach has not been published to date, and it may stimulate and inspire future interactions and publications by One Health researchers in neighboring countries worldwide. Thus, the review herein has aimed to establish a starting point by rescuing the history and current efforts on One Health initiatives in only three out of the 33 countries currently established in Latin America and the Caribbean to date.Although the past topic has offered a detailed discussion about One Health experiences and conferences held at different times, the importance of One Health should be described separately. The strengthening of national and international collaborative partnerships in elucidating the concept of One Health by sharing experiences in conferences and during on-field practical actions has led to a better implementation of the One Health approach and measures to mitigate, control and prevent emerging and infectious diseases, such as Zika, dengue, hanseniasis, leptospirosis, yellow fever, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and parasitism, and the complex nature of diseases in indigenous and underprivileged communities in many Latin American countries.The One Health approach supports global health security by improving coordination, collaboration, and communication at the human-animal-plant-environment interface to address shared health threats, such as zoonotic diseases, antimicrobial resistance, food safety and security among others. Examples of potential benefits and outcomes of One Health actions are to monitor and develop standards at the local, national and global health equity, ensure adequate capacity in health including strategies to prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks of diseases, develop emergency preparedness responses, support interdisciplinary collaborative partnerships, and control of highly infected pathogens and reemerging diseases, and conduct scientific research.One Health is an inclusive collaborative, multisectoral, and transdisciplinary approach, working at the local, regional, national, and global levels, with the goal of achieving optimal health outcomes recognizing the interconnection between people, animals, plants, and their shared environment. Furthermore, the Importance of a One Health approach has increased in advancing global health security and the Sustainable Development Goals.Finally, improvement of international, national, regional and local levels of One Health networking and collaborative research studies, associated with professional training, conferences, and continuing education, has led to a better understanding of the human-animal interactions (domestic or wild) and spatial modeling on emerging, reemerging, and spreading of zoonotic infections. The advance of One Health in concepts and approaches in such a holistic way has provided key tolls for prevention and preparedness, as already presented at the discussion for tuberculosis, malaria, yellow fever, influenza A(H1N1), West Nile Virus, Zika, Dengue, Chikungunya, and recently for SARS-CoV-2.Independent of the approach used to describe the link and vision of Health of the Environment , Economics Health, Health of the Planet , and Population Health to One Health, all these concepts share the same goals as understanding their use as practical holistic tools for better and more effective solutions to address threats to the health, wellbeing and sustainability of humans, animals, plants and the environment. Above all, One Health can be used as a preventive measure for upcoming threats not only for Latin America but for the shared planet Earth as a whole.Based on local “grassroots” demands, action movements and population needs, the experiences of One Health history and development in Latin America and Caribbean countries are different from other continents, from within the same continent like North America, and even among the three Latin American countries discussed herein. This review hopes to inspire other countries, regions, and continents to also share their own One Health experiences.While the One Health approach worldwide is considered crucial to address governance challenges of complex issues and is widely supported in theory, its implementation in practice remains limited, especially due to lack of financial support and the secular anthropogenic and self-centered mentality. Altogether, the world must continue working to further establish a standard system of equal assessment of health, construction of sustainable mechanisms for collaboration and communication between responsible agencies and ministries for human, plant, and animal health. Furthermore, align national, regional, and international strategies with collaboration, cooperation, and intersectoral partnership implementing the concept of environmental conservation in daily practice. Not only to learn and change the paradigms of health and diseases, of economic-political-cultural crises for the conservation of the Planet's Biodiversity with inclusion, equity, and sustainability with a holistic view, but also change our Ego into the Eco framework. Finally, there is a critical need to respect, rescue, and learn from diverse communities and indigenous peoples who have the ancestral knowledge for a balanced life on our planet. Thus, future One Health experiences in Latin America should always associate cross-disciplinarity action and concept, surpassing political, social, cultural, and linguistic differences.All authors contributed equally, approved the submitted version, and collaboratively to the written manuscript. CP-B designed the original manuscript. Figures were designed by DF, CV, NC, and AB. AM, DA, DSB, DFB, DF, AB, and CV finalized the review.The University of Washington Faculty grant 75-5324 PETTAA was applied for publication fees.The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.


Many scholars have conducted in-depth research on the theme of land use change and food security, and formed fruitful research results, but there is a lack of quantitative analysis and comprehensive evaluation of research achievements. Therefore, based on the relevant literature on the theme of land use change and food security in the core collection of the Web of Science (WOS) database, this paper takes the advantage of CiteSpace and VOSviewer bibliometric software to draw the cooperative network and keyword cooccurrence map to analyze the research progress and frontier. The results reveal that: (1) The research started in 1999 and can be divided into three stages: initial research, rapid development, and a stable in-depth stage. This topic has increasingly become a research hotspot in the academic community. (2) The distribution of research institutions is concentrated and forms a small cluster, and the research networks between developed and developing countries have been established, and developed countries are in the core position, but the cooperation network is not prominent. (3) The research content is becoming increasingly organized and systematic, and the research hot topics are divided into seven aspects. (4) The research area of the subject covers multiple levels, such as global, national, and specific natural geographical regions, and has formed a research system of geographic information technology and satellite remote sensing technology. It also presents the trend of cross integration with economics, land management and soil science. In the future, theoretical innovation still needs to be strengthened, and we should strengthen the research on the impact of agricultural chemical fertilizers on food security and study the impact of urban expansion on land use change. Land use change and its impact on food security have become one of the frontiers and hot topics studied by scholars worldwide ,2,3,4. WIn recent years, research related to the theme of land use change and food security has emerged in the academic community, mainly combined with issues of climate change, carbon emissions, agricultural intensification ,17,18. Fhttp://apps.webofknowledge.com, accessed on 6 September 2021) and adopt the method of group retrieval. The WOS Citation database is an information retrieval platform developed by Thomson Reuters of the United States. With the Science Citation Index, Social Science Citation Index, and Arts and Humanities Citation Index as the core, it contains more than 9000 world authoritative and influential academic journals, and the documents in the database have high authority in the academic community [The data on the relevant literature used in this paper come from the core collection of the WOS database  is a Java-based application software proposed by Professor Chen of Drexel University in 2004. It is based on the co-citation analysis theory and pathfinder, minimum spanning trees algorithm to make a quantitative analysis of the literature in specific fields, which is used to analyze and visualize the emerging trends and patterns in the knowledge field of scientific publications [https://www.vosviewer.com, accessed on 6 September 2021) is also a literature analysis and knowledge visualization software tool developed by van Eck and Waltman of the Centre for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden University [As an auxiliary procedure of bibliometrics, science mapping provides a spatial representation of network structures. Science mapping involves the interdisciplinary fields of applied mathematics, information science and computer science. It is a new development of scientometrics and information metrology. In recent years, with the rapid development of computer science, many scholars have used various science mapping tools to analyze the potential dynamic mechanism of discipline evolution ,23,24. Cications ,26. It hiversity . It can iversity .The annual distribution of the number of published articles can reflect the research level and degree of development of a certain discipline . The numThe initial stage of the research (1999–2008): At this stage, the number of relevant research studies was relatively small, the research topic was relatively limited, and the number of research scholars in this field was also small, mainly because there was not much research on land use change and food security. Before this stage, scholars studied the theme of land use change or food security separately. In 1999, Sporton et al. first studied the theme of land use change and food security . SubsequThe rapid development stage of the research (2009–2017): During this stage, scholars showed great interest in the research topic, the number of published articles continued to increase, the research questions and perspectives were further expanded, and several leading studies emerged, such as Alexander and Verburg et al. ,34. In 2Stable in-depth stage of the research (2018-present): During this stage, the literature publication trend was relatively smooth, and the research content and perspective gradually increased in depth. The research perspective has focused on both macro and micro issues, including population growth, land systems, rural development, soil organic carbon, and life cycle assessment, in the research agenda of land use change and food security, and the overall research has continued to deepen ,41.By analyzing the author’s cooperation network , we can Taking the research institution as the node for visual analysis, we can obtain the cooperation network map of the research institution  and showIn According to Keywords capture the core idea of the article. Through the research on keywords in a field, we can quickly grasp the hot topics in the field . In thisTo refine the research topics more intuitively and effectively in this field, we use the unique clustering density map function of VOSviewer software to visualize the keyword cooccurrence clustering results . In the With excessive carbon emissions produced in the process of human production and consumption, global warming and abnormal climate events frequently occur, which have a direct impact on land use, especially on changes in cultivated land area, threatening global food security ,47,48. AA sustainable land management policy can help mitigate climate change, protect the land from soil erosion and ensure food security. Its core is to emphasize the resilience of management methods, that is, to seek maximum synergy through the combination of different land management policies ,60. RussIn the face of the food security crisis, although the development of marginal ecological land can improve food output in the short term, this process is mostly irreversible, and the opportunity for agricultural land expansion is limited . ExcessiResearch on agricultural intensification can be traced back to 1990. Vlek took sub-Saharan Africa as an example to explore the role of alternative soil fertility and other measures in agricultural production . There aClimate change has changed the process of surface change and terrestrial ecosystems and their composition, structure and function , triggerLand degradation seriously affects food production and distribution through soil erosion, the decline of land fertility and salinization . PaoloniWith increasing attention given to energy security and ecological security, governments worldwide are pursuing multiple goals of energy security, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and developing rural economies. Tian and Renzaho et al. found that the government have invested much money or established tax incentive mechanisms to develop renewable bioenergy represented by fuel ethanol and biodiesel to replace nonrenewable fossil fuels  ,89. WhilFood security is a multidimensional security goal and is affected by many factors, among which food production is the most critical link in the food security system ,97,98. LIn addition, the research results of some scholars show that grain production is affected by a variety of natural and socioeconomic factors, among which regional factors, family size, farming system, land use intensity, land tenure, climate change and environmental cost have a great influence on grain productivity. The actual grain yield is affected by the quantity and quality of cultivated land, climate, agricultural technology, and planting methods ,102,103.Global land use change is affected not only by climate change, land degradation and other factors but also by economic factors such as agricultural benefits . The forIn addition, facing the problems of land fragmentation, higher agricultural production costs, lower agricultural productivity and lower grain output, most countries in the world have generally used effective measures, promoting moderately intensive land and large-scale production and management to transform and upgrade the agricultural system, to reduce agricultural production costs and to improve agricultural benefits . MoreoveAlthough the keyword clustering density map of the VOSviewer software can intuitively show the hot research topics in the field, the time factor is not considered. The time zone map of the CiteSpace software arranges keywords according to time series, which can more intuitively show the distribution of hot topics in each period . TherefoCombined with The burst detection algorithm was proposed by Kleinberg to explore the research frontier trend in a field by studying the strength and duration of keyword bursts . The resTo ensure food security, countries all over the world have generally adopted strict land use restriction measures, such as China’s cultivated arable land minimum policy, Japan’s land classification management system and the United States’ land fallow policy. They hope to strictly restrict land use change through administrative control methods to stabilize food production and limit food risk within a controllable range ,115,116.The results of this paper show that the first research article on the theme of land use change and food security was published in 1999. Since then, the number of published articles has shown a slow-growth trend. To deeply analyze the evolution of the research field of land use change and food security, this paper divides these research studies into three stages according to the number of articles published annually and the category and frequency of keywords. The first stage is the initial stage of research (1999–2008), during which the number of published articles was small, the research theme concentrated on a single topic, and overall research progress went slowly. Related research mainly focuses on conceptual and technical analysis, as well as direct analysis of the impact of land use change on food security. The second stage is the rapid development stage (2009–2017), during which basic research knowledge increased to a certain extent. The research focused on the influencing factors of land use change, including climate change, carbon emissions, and sustainable land management, climate change and sustainability would continue to be focused on in the future. During this stage, scholars also paid more attention to improving the ability to deal with land use change and food security risks, and to explore countermeasures and governance schemes at multiple levels, such as technology and policy. The number of articles published on the theme of land use change and food security did not increase significantly until 2009, which may attribute to the theme of World Food Day in that year, which was described as “coping with the crisis and achieving food security”, and emphasized the serious plight of malnutrition of 1.02 billion people in the world, as well as the need to help solve the problem of hungry people under conditions of economic crisis. The third stage is the stable deepening stage (2018–present). In this stage, as the global food security problem becomes increasingly serious, scholars pay more attention to global land use change and food security, and they raise the issue of food security to a risk problem.We found that the research in this field mainly explores the impact on food security from four land use change factors: environmental change, land quality, crop planting type and agricultural production mode. First, environmental change involves climate change and carbon emissions. Excessive carbon emissions will lead to global warming and extreme climate events, resulting in changes in production factors such as moisture, heat, humidity, and temperature, which will lead to changes in land use patterns to varying degrees, eventually affecting the cultivated land area of food production and endangering food security. Second, land quality is related to land degradation. Due to the unreasonable use of land and changes in the natural environment, part of land in the world has experienced serious degradation (soil erosion), which leads to a decline in land productivity and has a serious impact on food production. Third, crop planting types involve renewable bioenergy and food production. Compared with the economic benefits of food crops, the economic benefits of other cash crops are higher, especially with the rapid development of clean energy (bioenergy), which leads to the conversion of some cultivated land originally planted with food crops to other cash crops. The reduction in the planting area of food crops will inevitably lead to a decline in total food production, then threatening global food security. Fourth, the agricultural production model involves sustainable land management policy, agricultural intensive development, food production and agricultural benefits. Facing practical problems such as land degradation, reduction of ecological land, land pollution and decline of soil fertility, people urgently need to change the extensive agricultural production model to the production model with higher overall efficiency. For example, the intensive agricultural model pays more attention to the stability of grain production and the protection of the ecological environment, which can give full play to the economic, social and ecological effects of agricultural production .At present, the research topic in this field is mainly aimed at the complex practical problems of global land use change and food security, and the research content is becoming increasingly organized and systematic. According to the clustering results, we can extract seven frontier hot topics in this field: climate change and carbon emissions, sustainable land management policy, agricultural intensive development, land degradation, renewable bioenergy, food production and agricultural benefits. These results present the trend of cross integration with economics, land management, soil science, public policy, politics, geography, and other disciplines, and indicate that the research in this field continues to expand. Meanwhile, it is worth noting that although the theme of land use change and food security has become very popular in recent years, scholars’ research perspective is not limited to the direct analysis of the impact of land use change on food security but also considers climate change, carbon emissions, renewable bioenergy, agricultural intensive development models and other relevant aspects ,8,54. InThis paper also has some research limitations that can be improved in the future. Firstly, because we only selected the WOS database as the data source for the bibliometric analysis of this study, and did not choose other databases , the data used in our study cannot include all literature. However, as one of the most comprehensive databases in the world, the WOS database contains high-quality documents, it can represent the research hotspot and frontier in this field. Secondly, we can fully analyze the most influential publications in the database in the future, which will help to understand the real impact of the most important research in the scientific community.This paper comprehensively used CiteSpace and VOSviewer software for bibliometric analysis and performed a visual analysis of the knowledge map of the literature with the theme of land use change and food security in the WOS database, and explored the research status, knowledge structure and evolution context. Since 1999, the number of annual published articles in the field of land use change and food security has shown an overall upward trend, which can be divided into three stages: initial research, rapid development, and a stable in-depth stage. Although a core author group was initially formed, the overall cooperation network is still relatively scattered. The distribution of research institutions is concentrated and forms a small cluster, which shows that there are only a few cooperative relationships among research institutions, and large institutional collaborative groups have not been formed across countries or regions. In national cooperation networks, developed countries are in the core position, but the cooperation network is not prominent. Meanwhile, keywords such as food security, land use change and climate change are taken as the core issues, they exhibit a radial shape and form seven frontier hot topics in this field. Moreover, due to the complexity of the research theme of land use change and food security, the research methods in this field are in-depth and diverse, and multidisciplinary development is constantly integrated. In addition, with the emergence of factors or problems such as climate change, carbon emission limitations, the application of new land use models and technologies, and the imbalance between food production and demand, there are new opportunities and challenges to the research on land use change and food security.The research field of land use change and food security can be strengthened in the following aspects in the future. (1) Theoretical innovation still needs to be strengthened. At present, the research in this field is carried out through technology and mathematical models, which lack theoretical construction and innovation. The research perspective can also be innovated from the dimensions of land property rights systems and land management systems. (2) We should strengthen the research on the impact of agricultural chemical fertilizers on food security. Agricultural chemical fertilizer plays an important role in slowing down land use change and ensuring the sufficiency of food production, especially synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. However, the loss of active nitrogen will not only affect grain yields but also pollute the ecological environment. (3) Further research can focus on the impact of urban expansion on land use change. Due to the urbanization process of countries worldwide, a large amount of high-quality cultivated land around cities is occupied, which seriously threatens food security, especially in developing countries.