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On November 13, 2023, GLACIER presented the “Bases for One Health Research in the Neotropic with Emphasis in Mesoamerica” workshop in Villa Colonial – Antigua, Guatemala, within the framework of the VI Biennial WDA Latin America Conference (Guatemala, 2023).

In Latin America and specifically in Mesoamerica, changes in land use have increased the interaction between humans and their domestic animals and local fauna.

Unfortunately, there is a big information gap on the effects of environmental degradation on disease emergence. One of the proposed global strategies to face this challenge is developing multidisciplinary and multicausal approaches that allow us to understand the patterns and processes that favor the establishment and transmission of infectious agents, especially in regions with less favorable social and economic conditions.

It is necessary to determine the connections between diseases and ecological (diversity), socioeconomic (social marginalization, ownership of domestic animals) and cultural (customs and traditions) factors to understand how changes in these interactions influence the appearance, reappearance and/or restriction of infectious agents in a specific region.

This 7-hour workshop sought to carry out a general evaluation and prioritization of the biological, ecological, socioeconomic, cultural and educational variables for research in the Neotropics and especially in Mesoamerica, using the One Health approach. Participants included students (undergraduate and postgraduate) and researchers from various regions of Latin America with experience in Disease Ecology and One Health projects in Latin America. This guaranteed rich examples from geographical and social environments with conditions relatively similar to those of Mesoamerica.

The workshop was divided into blocks of priority topics. Each block was composed of a 30-minute talk by an expert, with 45 minutes of group work to carry out a brainstorming session, guided by a list of questions or statements, with the intention of identifying the priority variables to take into account in the neotropics and especially in Mesoamerica.

To inaugurate the workshop, Dr. Andrea Chaves from the University of Costa Rica (Costa Rica) gave a brief presentation on the One Health concept and outlined the workshop dynamics.

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Next, Dr. Bernal Rodríguez from the University of Costa Rica (Costa Rica) gave the talk “Introduction to Mesoamerica,” in which he addressed ecological, social and cultural aspects that make Mesoamerica a region of global relevance.

Next, Dr. Amanda Fine, Director of One Health for WCS, spoke about “Lessons Learned in Other Regions Around the World,” addressing her experience of One Health initiatives in other tropical regions.

After the first coffee break, Dr. Oscar Rico Chávez from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (Mexico) presented the talk “Ecological and Biological Characteristics for Disease Ecology Studies,” in which he addressed the interactions between system components in diverse landscapes, taking into account land use, fragmentation, environmental characteristics, diversity of functional groups and the dilution effect.

Afterwards, Dr. Gerardo Acosta Jamett from the Universidad Austral de Chile (Chile) presented the talk “A System’s Components: Interactions between Hosts, Vectors and Infectious Agents,” in which he discussed the risks of interaction between potential hosts and vectors; jungle cycles vs urban cycles and human-animal interface of buffer zones.

Dr. Carlos Ibarra-Cerdeña, from CINVESTAV, Mérida Unit (Mexico) presented the talk “Methodological Analysis of Risk of Infection by Zoonotic Agents,” where he addressed the analysis of components for risk calculation (vulnerability, exposure and danger analysis).

From 12:00 p.m. to 12:45 p.m. a group-work session was carried out. During this session, participants established fundamental aspects for the development of One Health initiatives in Latin America, with emphasis on the concepts developed by the panelists and on the ecological characteristics of their own countries.

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After lunch, Valeria Morales from the University of Costa Rica (Costa Rica) gave a talk on the “Degree of Social Margination,” in which she addressed the problems of sanitation, access to health systems, knowledge and education programs, as well as prevention, control and monitoring of diseases transmitted directly or indirectly.

Dr. Claudio Azat from the Andrés Bello University of Chile (Chile) gave a talk on “Education and Specialization in One Health,” in which he addressed strategies and key aspects for the learning process in formal and informal training in One Health.

From 3:30 p.m. to 4:15 p.m. a second group-work session was carried out, following the same dynamics as the first one. Then the participants headed for their last coffee break.

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Finally, to close the workshop, the results of the group work were presented, followed by an exchange of ideas for future work and collaborations.

Dr. Jan Felix Drexler, Charité, Berlin (Germany) and Dr. Andrea Chaves from the University of Costa Rica (Costa Rica) presented the final conclusions and closed the workshop.