Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology Texas A&M University College Station, Texas
The One Health initiative strives “to promote, improve, and defend the health and well-being of all species.” It utilizes collaborative endeavors integrating fields of science to educate and improve human and animal quality of life. Anesthetists play a vital role in this initiative. Zoonosis, iatrogenic administration of contaminated anesthetic drugs, unsafe injection practices, multi-drug resistant bacterial infections, post-operative surgical site infections, work-area and equipment-related infectious transmission, and active infectious diseases compromising a multitude of body systems are amongst some of the considerations for anesthetists. Understanding how these considerations integrate into the perioperative period allows the anesthetist to reduce risk factors predisposing animals to morbidity and mortality.