One Health

At the University of Nicosia, we embrace the concept of One Health, which highlights the interconnectedness of human health, animal health, and a sustainable environment. This approach is realized through collaborative, multidisciplinary research across the Medical School, the School of Veterinary Medicine, the School of Life and Health Sciences, the Medical Centre, and other Schools and Centres within the University involved in One Health research.

One of the largest public health challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic is the lack of an accurate picture of the direct and indirect mortality burden from COVID- 19. UNIC and its Medical School, alongside their research collaborators, devised the sort of global-scale project needed to address this international problem, launching the COVID-19 Mortality (C-MOR) Consortium. The Consortium has grown to include 58 institutions across 6 continents and 52 countries.

C-MOR monitors overall and cause-specific mortality resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a dedicated, truly global, reference dataset from which important evidence-based knowledge can be gleaned for policymakers and healthcare professionals.

The Consortium has already published key results which analyse excess mortality and potential years of life lost from the first year of the pandemic. The results represent some of the largest and most expansive studies of their kind, utilising predominantly national and primary sources. Currently, the Consortium is focusing on the investigation of the magnitude and determinants of excess all-cause and cause-specific mortality during 2020 and 2021, in service of aiding the response to the recent pandemic and future ones.

Publications:

1. Premature Mortality Attributable to COVID-19: Potential Years of Life Lost in 17 Countries Around the World, January-August 2020. Ugarte MP, et al.; C-MOR Consortium. BMC Public Health. 2022 Jan 9;22(1):54. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-12377-1.
2. Excess All-cause Mortality and COVID-19-related Mortality: A Temporal Analysis in 22 Countries, From January until August 2020. Achilleos S, et al. Int J Epidemiol. 2022 Feb 18;51(1):35-53. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyab123.
3. Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Total, Sex- and agespecific All-cause Mortality in 20 Countries Worldwide During 2020: Results from the C-MOR Project. Demetriou CA, et al. Int J Epidemiol. 2022 Aug 27:dyac170. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyac170.

The University of Nicosia espouses the One Heath approach that recognises the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health. This interdisciplinary research addresses health issues like emerging zoonotic diseases and the impact of pollution and climate change on health and food safety security. Research initiatives in this area are crucial, particularly for Mediterranean countries such as Cyprus.

Currently, a collaborative study at the University of Nicosia among different sectors, including human medicine, veterinary medicine, and environmental science, is aiming to link the complexity of the lower gut microbiome of dairy cattle from Cypriot farms with parasitic infections and to determine how ecological pollution may impact cattle gut microbiome and cow’s milk quality and safety. Parasites of importance that currently are under investigation include the Cryptosporidium species, but this will be expanded to other parasites of significance to public health.

In addition, the interplay of the gut microbiome concerning antibiotic use, ambient air pollution and heavy metals, farming practices, and milk production in dairy cattle are being explored. Ultimately, this research aims to identify primary targets for sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural practices to maximise ruminant production efficiency, reduce antibiotic use and improve animal and human welfare.