**8. Conclusion**

The One Health concept is a relatively new approach being promoted as a strategy to tackle some public health problems at the human-animal-ecosystem interface. Consequently, its application is gradually gaining traction and some time is needed to really access its benefits. Currently, there are few evidence of the potential and practical benefits of this approach to tackle public health challenges on the scale of those posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

That notwithstanding, few instances of the immediate, potential and practical benefit of using the One Health approach have emerged. The United States Agency for International development recently developed a PREDICT One Health surveillance system to track potential emergence of pathogenic viruses and their possible spill-over to the human population. The successful application of this project has led to the improvement of our understanding of evolution of viruses on a global scale [98]. Furthermore, another coordinated One Health simulation study using the Rift Valley virus was used to demonstrate the potential applicability and success of this approach. The study concluded that a multidisciplinary investigation using this approach can yield a higher statistical power and reveal complex relationships between regarding the epidemiology of the virus in animal and environmental settings [99].

It is evident from the foregoing that the One Health surveillance initiative can be applied at the human-animal-ecosystem interface to track any emerging infectious diseases. The incorporation of molecular techniques can be used to establish the clonality between the viral strains among animals, humans and the ecosystem. Due to the massive and devastating nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the One Health surveillance must be globally envisioned in order to effectively track and control the spread of the disease [100].

*Fighting the COVID-19 Pandemic*
