The OneHealth perspective reminds us that human life and health depends on the health and biology of countless animals, plants and microbes. This has become particularly urgent and clear with the rapid spread of microbial resistance to antibiotics (AMR), which currently poses a major threat to global human health. AMR is a direct consequence of a massive use of antibiotics for both humans and farm animals. With 70 % of the total global antibiotics consumption being used for farm animals, solving the antibiotics crisis will depend on solving the current crisis in farm animal health. Moreover, 60 % of all human pathogens originate from animals, and while some are highly publicized such as SARS and H5N1, the area of zoonosis is largely neglected. Cross-species studies and comparative biology will be essential to deliver the best possible measures to control zoonotic infectious diseases. Fundamental proteome research of farm animal species is in particular essential for characterizing specific host-pathogen crosstalk at the molecular level, and for monitoring the health state of farm animals, and how their health affects human health.
This talk will give a status on progress in farm animal proteome research and present our ongoing studies of host pathogen interactions in farm animals, including studies of how gene variants can support pigs resistance to E. coliand sheeps resistance to helminth pathogens. Our cross species studies provide important opportunities to study comparative host pathogen interactions in both animals and humans, and to characterize specific virulence factors that makes E.colia major pathogen challenge for both human and farm animal health.