The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the resilience of public health sectors worldwide. It has demonstrated the need to find more effective ways to conduct, share, and communicate science in order to promote public health strategies for the prevention, diagnosis, and control of diseases. It has also emphasized the urgent necessity of a “One Health” approach that unifies human, animal, and environmental health, including much more surveillance and research on disease threats [1,2].
One Health embraces the idea that the health of people, animals, plants, and their shared environment are closely linked and interdependent at the global, national, and local levels. It requires collaboration between relevant sectors and disciplines, such as human and veterinary medicine, epidemiology, agriculture, environmental and social sciences, and governance. The complex nature of the interactions between people, animals, plants, and ecosystems renders this multisectoral and transdisciplinary approach critical for addressing future health risks and challenges [3].
For Acta Microbiologica Hellenica, which, for almost seven decades, has been constantly fostering communication and interaction among all branches of microbiology and medical biopathology, the One Health approach emerges as a crucial force that will shape the course of pandemics, a critical paradigm and a scientific field with promising prospects. Research in this direction is necessary in order to develop the most efficient policies for disease prevention and management, encompassing the public health, animal health, and agricultural sectors. The basic scope of this journal will remain the same, but the topics it covers have been updated and broadened, as indicated in Table 1:
Table 1.
Changes in the scope of Acta Microbiologica Hellenica.
Human activities and stressed ecosystems have created new conditions that have facilitated the emergence and spread of diseases. Our mission remains to provide scientists in the fields of clinical microbiology, laboratory hematology, medical biochemistry, and immunology with outstanding articles that enhance research and education and to offer them more scientific tools to enable them to contribute not only to the everyday care of patients but also to the management of various public health crises. On behalf of the Editorial Board and the rest of the team, I welcome you to our journal, a member of the MDPI family, and encourage you to submit your original research. We look forward to your contributions and support.
Funding
This research received no external funding.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
References
- Maher, B.; Van Noorden, R. How the COVID pandemic is changing global science collaborations. The pandemic and political tensions might slow the march towards more globalized science. Nature 2021, 594, 316–319. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- Hill, R.; Stentiford, G.G.; Walker, D.I.; Baker-Austin, C.; Ward, G.; Maskrey, B.H.; van Aerle, R.; Verner-Jeffreys, D.; Peeler, E.; Bass, D. Realising a global One Health disease surveillance approach: Insights from wastewater and beyond. Nat. Commun. 2024, 15, 5324. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
- One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP); Hayman, D.T.S.; Adisasmito, W.B.; Almuhairi, S.; Behravesh, C.B.; Bilivogui, P.; Bukachi, S.A.; Casas, N.; Becerra, N.C.; Charron, D.F.; et al. Developing One Health surveillance systems. One Health 2023, 17, 100617. [Google Scholar] [CrossRef] [PubMed]
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