Cross-Species Defense: Transmission Mechanisms of Zoonotic Diseases and Systematic Prevention Strategies Based on the "One Health" Approach

Abstract

Zoonotic diseases represent one of the most critical threats to global public health security. More than 70% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in origin, with pathogens capable of crossing species barriers to complete transmission cycles at the animal–environment–human interface. Accelerating globalization, ongoing ecological degradation, and expanding wildlife trade have further intensified cross-species transmission risk. Traditional single-discipline control models suffer from fundamental blind spots: clinical medicine focuses exclusively on human case diagnosis and treatment; veterinary medicine manages livestock and poultry diseases in isolation; and environmental health departments monitor ecological risks independently. These disciplinary silos produce severe data fragmentation and widespread surveillance gaps, often triggering emergency responses only after extensive community-level transmission has already occurred. This article systematically examines the scientific rationale and operational framework of the "One Health" strategy, analyzing how it integrates human medicine, veterinary science, and environmental science to elucidate the molecular adaptation mechanisms, host interaction dynamics, and ecological drivers of cross-species transmission—and to construct a full-chain prevention system encompassing pathogen surveillance, early risk warning, source-level intervention, and cross-sectoral governance. Breaking down disciplinary silos and establishing cross-sectoral collaborative mechanisms is the key pathway to addressing future pandemic threats. Only by embedding human, animal, and environmental health within a unified decision-making framework can the next pandemic be blocked at its source.