In this era of global disease, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, has your back. It’s joined forces with other governmental agencies to prioritize infections that spread among animals and people.

Thousands of people fall ill every year from these zoonotic diseases. By using a One Health approach, the group prioritized eight diseases for surveillance and further investigation. These include three bacterial diseases: salmonellosis, brucellosis and plague. A fourth, Lyme disease, is transmitted by ticks. The other four zoonotic infections are viral diseases: rabies, influenza, West Nile and a group of severe respiratory diseases.

In the spirit of One Health, the group is gathering pathologists, epidemiologists, physicians and veterinarians to help protect animals, people and the environment.